Notches in my Heart
by The Barn Cat
Summary: After the death of her beloved cousin, Kito Jiruki must go to the Leaf Village to continue her training. What happens there is even worse than she had imagined: Itachi Uchiha is after her. As she grows fond of him, a forgotten love fights for her freedom
1. Prologue

**FULL SUMMARY: **After the death of her beloved cousin, Kito Jiruki must go to the Leaf Village to continue her training. What happens there is even worse than she had imagined: Itachi Uchiha is after her. As she grows fond of him, a forgotten love fights for her freedom. She is even ganged up upon by her past and her future as she is caught between the right choices and the pleasurable choices. Who will she choose? Will another death bring her back? Or will she be lost forever, left to roam the farthest reaches of her heart and mind for eternity?

**Everyone, in this part, but Itachi(totally love him!) and Kisame are mine...**

**Prologue**

"No. I'm not going. There is absolutely no way I'm going to go crawling to the Leaf Village and begging to join," I said bluntly.

"But sweetheart, you must," my mother insisted.

I shook my head and left the house. Why did Mother think that living in the Leaf Village would help me any. I was already an established shinobi. What more could she want? I slowly made my way to my cousin's house. Miko always knew what to do at times like these. He was my best friend. I never really socialized outside of the clan. Don't get me wrong, I knew many people outside my clan, but I was most comfortable with Miko. He was only two missions away from complete acceptance into ANBU in the Leaf Village.

"Miko Jiruki!" I hollered when I reached his house.

"Kushikito Jiruki!" he said, showing up at the screen door. He opened the screen and stepped aside. "What's annoying you now, Kito?"

"Mother. She wants me to go to the Leaf Village, but I don't want to."

"Kito, you're mother wants what is best for you. She wants you to go to the Leaf Village because our village does not have an established system for training new shinobi. Kito, all I have taught you is not enough. Kito, come with me to the Leaf Village. It is strong and will be able to teach you better than me. You will have an established sensei."

"Miko, the Leaf Village may be for you, but I'd rather protect the clan," I explained calmly.

"You will be able to protect the clan best if you have a better understanding of the shinobi way," he was beginning to raise his voice.

"I can do it fine," I said sharply.

"No, you can't," he whispered, looking away.

I felt my hands clench into fists. I was breathing hard, trying in vain to calm down. Why did Miko have to do this to me? He knew best how my anger worked and what it turned me into. He's the one who suggested becoming a shinobi when he saw what the consequences of my anger were. I sucked in air and held it until I was at the point of passing out. Then did I unclench my fists and look calmly into my cousin's dark eyes.

"I'm not going, Miko Jiruki," I sighed.

He shook his head and placed his large hands on my shoulders, looking me directly in the eye. "Kito, this is very important to not only the clan and you, but it's very important to me, personally. Kito, I'd hate to see you die by the hand of another shinobi more experienced than you. With my help, you're already on the fast track, but you still are not ready for serious protection."

I could only nod. With Miko's expressed feelings I felt it my duty to go to the Leaf Village and train to be an exceptional shinobi. I could not let Miko down. He was family and my best friend.

"Miko?"

"Yes, Kito?"

"Will you take me with you?"

Miko's smile and nod of approval lightened my heart. I had already created a new dream. I would become an amazing ninja and eventually join Miko in ANBU and we could go on missions together. My mind fluttered with thoughts of the future, but a scream instantly tore my dreams of me and Miko away. On high alert, we ran into the streets towards the scream. My house. I was instantly angered and Miko looked at me.

"Kito, hide," he said seriously.

I nodded and found my favorite spot, a bush large enough to conceal me from sight, but still allow me to see everything. I watched in fear as Miko entered the house while brandishing a kunai.

It wasn't long before I heard him growl, "You!" Fear chilled my heart. Miko was in trouble. My hand instinctively pulled a kunai out of my holster, a gift from Miko. I heard a gasp of pain and an unfamiliar voice.

"Where is she?"

"I…don't…know," Miko gasped, pain filling his sweet voice.

"Yes, you do, now tell me before I kill you!" came the unfamiliar voice again.

"No…kill…me…now…and…get it…over with…" Miko replied, trying to stay strong.

"Your wish," came a new, rough voice.

"Kisame, wait. He knows where she is and I will have him tell me and then you can have your fun," said the first man.

"Itachi, c'mon! He's begging for it!" said the man called Kisame.

"Fine. Kill him and we will continue our search."

I heard Kisame snicker and I cried out for Miko. Big mistake. A man with black hair and a black cloak with red clouds stepped out of my house. Luckily, I had held back from jumping to Miko's rescue. This man froze my blood.

"Kisame. Come, we will find her another day," Itachi said.

"But I didn't get to kill him!"

"Now!"

With that they disappeared and I left my bush. I ran into my house to find Miko on the floor, holding his sides. Blood stained nearly every inch of his body.

"Miko?" I whispered, letting my tears free.

"Kito…" Miko gasped.

I hugged him tightly, staining my own clothes with his blood.

"Kito…run. Run to the Leaf Village. Tell them you are from my clan. Tell the Hokage that the Akatsuki are after you. Tell her that they know nothing about your whereabouts. Tell her I'm sorry I failed in my mission. Tell her…"

"What? What do I tell her?"

In reply, Miko untied his Leaf Village headband and gave it to me. He then handed me his kunai.

"Go now. Run Kito. Don't let them get you…"

"Miko? Miko, please. Please don't leave me, Miko!" I cried. "Miko!"


	2. Chapter 1

**Sadly I only own Kito and Akuze...I'd be a very happy, little girl if I owned all the Konaha crew, but I don't -sniff-**

**Chapter 1**

I untied my headband from around my waist, fingering the leaf symbol. Hugging it close to my chest, I remembered the day I got it. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I blinked them away and retied the headband. _I must make Miko proud_ I thought. I jumped from the tree to the ground, pulling out the map I had received from the last village. Laying it on the ground, I sat. I traced my fingers from the last village to Konaha.

"Why couldn't I pay attention in class?" I scolded myself. I hated reading. I found it a waste of my precious time.

_Akuze, can you see the map?_

**Yes, Kito. I can.**

_Well_, _how far until we reach Konaha?_

**I'd say about a day or two of walking. Head east, though, and you'll hit it fine.**

_Thank you Akuze._

I pulled out my compass and found east, though it took me a few minutes. I gathered the map and put it in my coat pocket. Checking to make sure my headband was secure, I began to walk east. It wasn't long until I became hungry. I pushed my way into the forest, straying from the path. I found a bush with ripe blackberries on it. I picked some and stuffed my face. Picking more, I began to walk back to the path.

As I walked, I stuck close to the trees. A tap on my shoulder sent me to the nearest tree. Brandishing a kunai, I prepared to attack. Looking down, I saw an elderly man. Sighing, I replaced the kunai in my pouch and jumped down in front of him.

"Excuse me miss, but is this yours?" he asked in a surprisingly strong voice. He held out his hand, showing me my headband. I nearly died.

"Oh, yes. Thank you so very much! I don't know what I'd have done if you didn't find it!" I cried. I took it from him and placed two coins in his open palm.

"Oh, I can't take this, miss," he said with a shake of his head. I closed his fingers around the coins and nodded.

"Please. You don't know how much this headband means to me, sir," I insisted.

"Fine. Are you headed to Konaha?"

"Yes, sir. Do you need a traveling partner?"

"That would be fine, miss. I believe we don't have far, now."

I smiled and nodded. _Akuze! You said a day!_

**Well, I guess I was wrong!** came the sarcastic reply.

"Let's get going. If we hurry we should be there before dark," he said, interrupting my anger at Akuze.

I nodded and we walked on in silence. We had been walking for an hour when the sky began to grow dark.

"Sir," I said. "I think it wise to stop here for the night and continue in the morning."

He nodded and began pulling two tents and two blankets out of his bag. I stopped him as he pulled out the second tent.

"I wish to sleep in the trees. Please, use both blankets. I believe it will be extra cool tonight."

"But, miss, you must take a blanket," he insisted. I shook my head 'no' and hopped into the nearest tree. "Good night, sir."

I awoke to a bird chirping in my face.

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"Oh, god!" I screeched. The bird was so annoying! I normally liked birds, but this one…I felt like eating it for breakfast. I looked to my feet.

**Way to go, baka.** I heard Akuze spit.

_How lovely, I didn't think it was possible for someone to be in such a bad mood on a day like this! _I thought with a sarcastic tone.

The remains of a bird's nest sat at my feet. "Sorry, bird, I didn't mean to!" I said as the bird incessantly squawked in my face. I decided it best to leave the scene, so I hopped to the ground to see the old man. But, to my concern, he was gone. Everything was gone.

"Great. Where could he have gone?" I asked myself, without any hope of finding him. I could tell this day would just be glorious. I angered a bird, Akuze was grumpy, and now the old man was gone. "Akuze, give me your senses," I said quite suddenly. I could almost instantly feel Akuze's sensitivity leaking into my body. "Activate!" I said quietly. I shut my eyes and reopening them, this time seeing in infrared. I could feel the red rings in my irises expanding to consume the whole of each iris.

"He's been gone for long. His heat is already dying," I said aloud. "Away."

I shut my eyes once more, and when I opened them, I saw normally. I felt the red receding to only a ring again. With a shake of my head I went in search of the path. The old man wasn't worth finding at the moment. Once I had found it, I walked along and, within thirty minutes, I found Konaha. I picked up a run and eventually entered the Leaf Village.

"Now to find the Hoka-" I was cut off by the side of a building. "Ok, that was easy enough."

I knew by Miko's descriptions this was what I was looking for. I began climbing the steps. When I reached the top, I entered the doorway there. I began wandering around the hall, soon running into I sweet-looking lady with a pig.

"Um, hi, I'm Kushikito Jiruki. I'm looking for the Hokage. I was told to meet with her here and I do-" I couldn't finish my rambling.

"Hi, Kushikito, I'm Shizune. I'll take you to Lady Tsunade right now," she said with a warm smile on her lips. She turned on her heel and led me to a room right down the hall. "Lady Tsunade, you have an important visitor," she said softly with a knock. The door opened and Shizune ushered me inside. I approached the desk.

"Please, sit," said the Hokage. So, I did. "Tell me, what is your name?"

"K-kushikito Jiruki, ma'am," I said. "My cousin Miko Jiruki tol-"

"Yes. Well, we've been expecting you for some time. You are to begin training immediately. I have looked over your files with great care and have assigned you to Team 7. Here. These are your teammates. Your sensei is Kakashi," she said, handing me four pictures. "Naruto is the one in orange. Sasuke in the blue shirt, and Sakura is the girl."

I glanced over the pictures, making sure Akuze could see them, and handed them back.

"They should be just inside the forest. Go west and you'll surely find them. Thank you for finally coming, Kushikito."

I nodded, stood, and turned for the door.

"Oh, and let Sasuke know you'll be staying with him, ok? Tell him if he has any issues, to come talk to me about it," she said, obviously dismissing me.

I left the building and headed west into the forest as told.


	3. Chapter 2

**Again, Akuze and Kito are mine. I _wish _I owned everyone else, but no -rambles on how I should own the Konaha crew- Okay, now that that's done...ENJOY!**

**Chapter 2**

As soon as I reached the forest, I hopped up in a tree. I liked trees, for some reason. Besides, tree-hopping was a specialty of mine. It was only five minutes of my hobby later when I saw a small group of ninja. I recognized them from the pictures. _Hey Akuze, wanna have some fun?_

**You bet, Kito!**

I smirked at his reply and crouched close to the branch. I only had to wait a few moments before Naruto went to stand under my branch. I turned upside down and released the branch. My hands landed on Naruto's shoulders, pushing his face to the ground. When he was lying on his stomach, I sat up, straddling his back. Next thing I knew, I was against the tree with a kunai to my throat and Sasuke's angry face in my own.

"Who sent you and what do you want," it was more of a demand than a question.

"Why do you concern yourself with my business, Sasuke?" I asked with a smirk.

His eyes widened and he pressed the kunai to my skin, barely leaving it unbroken. I raised my arm to grab his wrist, trying to pull the kunai away. He grabbed my arm with his other hand and held it above my head, against the tree. I took this opportunity to grab the kunai-wielding arm and force him into a police hold. I saw Sakura lunge at me, but Kakashi held her back.

"I'll tell it to you once. Keep your filthy nose out of my business and we'll get along fine, hon. Oh, and I'll cook, but you'll have to clean," I whispered in his ear. After I spoke, I pushed him towards Sakura who caught him as he stumbled. I looked up in time to dodge two kunai thrown by Naruto, obviously meant to pin me to the tree. I approached Kakashi. "Sensei," I said with a bow.

"Kushikito, I presume?" he asked and I nodded. "Team 7, meet Kushikito Jiruki, our newest member."

It took all my strength to not double over with laughter at their faces, though I couldn't suppress a small giggle. Sasuke eyed me with questioning eyes and Sakura and Naruto with suspicion mixed with anger.

"Pleased to meet you, too," I said after a few moments of silence.

"What do you mean you'll cook?" Sasuke asked, coming back to his senses.

"The Hokage said I'll be staying with you and if you have an issue with that to suck it up. Oh, I meant what I said, Sasuke. You'll be cleaning," I replied nonchalantly.

His face turned from disbelief to anger as he crossed his arms. Sakura, obviously distressed, still managed to hold out her hand for me to shake. Naruto was still pissed after what had happened, so he refused to welcome me.

"Well, I guess that's enough for today. Sasuke, I'll let you take Kushi-"

"Kito. Just Kito," I interrupted.

"Ok, Kito. I'll let you show Kito around her new home," Kakashi said.

I nodded and hopped into the nearest tree and looked down to see Sasuke still standing there. "Coming?" I asked him and he then hopped up next to me. We headed straight into town.

When the forest ended we began to run to his house. When we arrived, I stopped to admire the size of the mansion.

"You live here?" I said in awe. He nodded his response. He opened the front door and allowed me inside.

"This is the kitchen," He said as we walked down the hall. "Upstairs to the left is my room and you can pick any of the others to be yours."

I nodded a thank you and climbed the stairs. I saw what Sasuke was talking about. I walked down the hall and opened the last door on the right. There was a bed, a nightstand, and a chest of drawers. Simple and oh so homey. I removed my jacket and left it on my bed. A large window on the other side of the room overlooked the market. I opened it and looked up. A bit of the roof stuck out above. It was just within my reach, which would allow me a few quiet nights under the stars. I heard a knock on the door and quickly closed the window, going to the door. I opened it and there stood Sasuke.

"Comfortable?" he asked, emotionless. I nodded and went back to grab my jacket. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Out. I need to learn the lay of the land," I replied simply.

"Not without a guide. I'm going with you," he said, grabbing my arm.

"Only if you can catch me," I said, running to the window. I threw it open and jumped. I landed hard on the ground, my legs crumpling beneath me to absorb the shock. I stood straight again and began to run, putting on my jacket at the same time. I looked back to see Sasuke disappear from the window. I ran until I reached the forest.

**That was smart. Way to go, Kito,** I heard Akuze's voice in my head.

"Well I didn't think you had a better plan for escape!" I complained aloud. "At least I got away."

**Whatever,** he said.

I climbed the nearest tree by hand. I climbed to the top and looked out over the endless forest. Hopping from treetop to treetop, I surveyed the area. I heard a twig snap and I immediately dropped to the ground. "Activate!" I hissed. My skin prickled, my ears pricked up, becoming sharper. My eyesight became heat-seeking. I closed my eyes and concentrated on where I heard the twig snap. When I opened my eyes, I directed my eyes to the area of interest. I saw a shape. It was male and it was wearing a large cloak. Suddenly he was gone. I gasped as my skin prickled and my ears caught the quiet _whoosh _of movement. I turned in shock and landed hard against a tree. A searing pain ripped through my left shoulder. I sucked in air and looked to my shoulder. A shuriken was stuck in the tree, my coat was torn, and blood trickled down my shoulder. The pain was intensified with my sensitivity.

"Away!" I whispered. Instantly the pain was reduced to nothing. I looked up, without Akuze's sensitivity I was helpless to finding the culprit. I still had my jutsu, but I had lost sense of my attacker. As I searched in the silence of the forest, another shuriken flew at me, pinning me to the tree. I froze as a kunai drew a line up my side and found its way to my throat. The tip played along my throat, threatening to make me bleed. "Show yourself," I finally spat. Out stepped a young man only a little taller than me. He had a resemblance to Sasuke. I recognized his cloak.

**A/N-**I have to say that the beginning of this chapter is one of my favorite parts in the whole story!


	4. Chapter 3

**I own none other than Kito and Akuze. I _wish _I owned the others...**

**Chapter 3**

"I found you," was all he said. This was definitely him. The one who killed Miko. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, your choice. I might even let you live if you choose the easy way."

"What do you want with me?" I hissed.

"Oh, come on, Kushikito, we all know what I have come for," he replied rather lightly for a murderer.

"I'm afraid I was the only one who didn't get the memo. Why don't you release me and we can talk about it."

He smirked. "Or I could just kill you now _and _get what is rightfully mine."

"Now, you see, the only problem with your plan is I die. I do believe I'm worth more alive than dead," I tried.

"You are worth nothing to me."

"Now, that's just plain mean!"

He frowned and moved the kunai to my side. "You know what's really mean?" he asked with a bit of a smirk. "This." With that said, he slowly pushed the tip of the kunai into my side. I could feel my face contort with pain as he pushed it further and further. It was all I could do to not squeal with pain as he removed it and cut a design into my side a little higher up. He held the kunai, now dripping with blood, up to my face and turned it around and around. When he stopped, he drew on my cheek with my blood. He then came so very close to my face, his cheek just centimeters away from my own. "Give it to me before I cut it out myself," he whispered.

My eyes narrowed, half with anger and half from the approaching darkness. I concentrated my chakra into the soles of my feet. I kicked up, hitting Itachi in the back of the head. When my feet hit the tree, they stuck. I ripped my arm away from the shuriken in the tree, tearing a chunk out of my jacket. I ran up the tree and began hopping through the trees as fast as I possibly could. I was halfway to the village when the darkness consumed my vision and I felt myself fall to the ground. Upon impact, I lost all my senses. I was suddenly inside my own body, without any feeling, and, for the first time, face to face with Akuze.

**Through Sasuke's Eyes**

Well, at least I knew where she'd be. I knew she was trouble from the beginning, but this was just pure stupidity. I never ran off like this until I had learned the town like the back of my hand. She was already starting to annoy me. She had been gone for thirty minutes and no matter whom I asked, no one seemed to know who she was. I couldn't believe it, but now I was ready to ask Naruto and Sakura for their help. I knew she could take care of herself as long as she was in the village, but she seemed drawn to the forest, which became more dangerous the further out you went. I knocked on Sakura's door and Sakura answered it.

"Sasuke? What's wrong?" she asked in disbelief. I noticed her seeming need to rub her eyes or pinch herself or something.

"Kito's gone," I stated plainly.

"Oh," she said, looking down. "She'll be fine, Sasuke, don't worry."

"No, I mean, gone. She said she was going to explore the village, but none of the shopkeepers or civilians has seen her."

"Oh. Um, well, I guess we could go look for her. How long has she been gone?"

"Thirty minutes. I think I might know where she is."

"Where?"

"The forest. She seems drawn to it for some reason."

Sakura nodded. She scribbled a quick note for her mother and we ran to the ramen bar where Naruto sat.

"Naruto, come," Sakura ordered blankly.

"Huh?" Naruto said, looking up. Sakura just grabbed his arm and pulled him along as we ran to the forest.

"Naruto, Kito's gone. I believe she's in the forest. We must scour it until we find her." Naruto nodded and Sakura released him. Once we reached the trees, we climbed the trees and split up. It was a while before I found a battle scene. There was blood on the roots of the tree and weapons in the trunk.

"Crap," I said aloud. I took one last look and saw a scrap of red cloth pinned to the trunk by a shuriken. I jumped down and felt the cloth, examining it. It was definitely Kito's. I examined the ground, finding two sets of tracks. I could tell by the size of the second set that her opponent was older. I took to the trees again, worrying more and more at my inability to find her. As I jumped from tree to tree, I noticed someone on the ground. She wore a torn red jacket.

"Kito!" I cried as I joined her on the ground. I took her by the shoulders and turned her over. Her eyes were closed and a leaf symbol with a slash through it was drawn on her cheek with blood. There was a cut on her left shoulder and a stab wound on her left side. I removed the scraps of her jacket, revealing another leaf symbol, only this one was cut into her side. The stab looked deep. Very deep. I picked her up and put her arm around my shoulder, laying my arm across her back and grabbing her other arm. I began stumbling down the path. She was heavier than I thought, being so skilled in the trees and all. It took me ten times the amount of time to finally drag myself and my new teammate into town. Naruto spotted us and sprinted over.

"What happened?" he cried when he saw Kito.

"I don't know," I grumbled with a shake of my head. He and Sakura took her off of me and I collapsed to the ground. The sun had begun to set. "Get Lady Hokage to heal her and quick. She has a deep stab wound on her left side with a less deep cut above it. The blood on her cheek isn't from a cut. She also has a cut on her left shoulder. Other than that, I think she's fine, but the stab wound could pose a problem. Go, take her to Lady Hokage!"

They nodded and, working together, took Kito away. I gathered my feet under me, stood, and began walking towards the hospital where I knew I would find her soon.


	5. Chapter 4

**I own no other than Kito and Akuze...no matter how I beg, they just won't let me have anyone else!**

**Chapter 4**

I twitched in my unconsciousness, causing my side to throb with pain. I tried with all my might and opened my eyes. I shot into a sitting position. More pain in my side. Where was I?

**Welcome to the hospital, sleeping beauty,** I heard. I looked around and then realized it was Akuze.

"Ow," I moaned. I grabbed at my bandaged side. I saw Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and a new boy. "Who are you?" I asked, forgetting my pain.

"Me?" he asked pointing to himself. I nodded. "Oh, I'm Kiba Inuzuka. I'm on Team 8."

He had a red, upside down triangle under each eye and messy, brown hair. I saw a lump move around inside his gray jacket. I was about to ask him what it was when out popped a little dog. He pulled the fur ball out of his jacket and it licked his cheek.

"This is Akamaru," he introduced, letting the dog come and sniff me. I patted his head and scratched him behind his ears. When he went back to Kiba, his tail was wagging and his tongue was hanging out. "I think he likes you, Kito," Kiba said. Akamaru barked cheerfully and Kiba blushed.

"H-how did you know my name?" I asked, obviously too out of it to understand that other people knew me too. He just looked at me with puzzled eyes. I shook my head and said, "Never mind, Kiba."

"Here, I borrowed these from Lady Hokage," he handed me pictures. "This is Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, Ten Ten, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka." He pointed to each picture as he said the person's name. I nodded, silently accepting his help. "Kito, we'll talk another time. I have to go return these and then go train," he said sadly. I smiled grimly and gave a small wave as he left the room.

"Well, look at me! Second day here and I'm already in the hospital!" I said, trying to lighten the mood. Sakura shook her head.

"Kito, you've been out for a week," she corrected. At that moment, my stomach growled. I clenched it and groaned.

"Hey Naruto? Can you go get me some food, please?"

He nodded and Sakura stood to go with him at Sasuke's urging. We watched them leave and once the door was shut, Sasuke looked back at me with the most serious expression I'd ever seen on a kid.

"Who did this?" he demanded. I shook my head. My fights were my fights alone. This was between me and Itachi. If Sasuke wished to get in my business, he'd need to kill me first or at least earn my trust. He tightly grasped my shoulders and demanded again, "Who did this."

"Ask the trees."

I saw him reach halfway to his kunai pouch. He shook his head and tried again, "Was it Itachi?" His voice was quite sweet. I looked away to the window facing the door. How? How did he know? I looked back to him when he touched my wounded side and I flinched. I nodded my head as he removed his hand. I pointed to my rubber band on the bedside table and he handed it to me. I gathered my long blonde hair high on my head and tied it in a half-ponytail. I drew back the covers of the bed and swung my feet over the side. I stood and walked over to my clothes that were neatly folded. I grabbed them and went into the bathroom. Inside, I dressed myself in my normal clothing. I left and Sasuke handed me a light blue kimono top and spandex that reached five inches above my knee. I stared at them and slowly began shaking my head. He just shoved them into me arms.

"No," I stated.

"Yes. It's for your own protection."

"From what?"

"Just put them on!"

"What if I don't want to!"

"I don't give a sh-just put them on."

"Whatever." I donned the new clothing and left the room. I stuck my head back in to say, "Where's my jacket?"

"It kinda got destroyed."

"Sasuke, you'd better have my jacket in my room tonight or you might not wake up in the morning." Sasuke grunted and grabbed red scraps out of the trashcan and shoved them towards me. I took them and opened it as a jacket. It had been shredded! "Just get me a new one," I grumbled, tossing it back into the trash. I went to the door, opened it, and left. I was halfway out the front door when Kiba was coming in with flowers.

"H-here, I had forgotten to bring them to you earlier," he stuttered with a blush and handed the small bouquet to me. He examined my new outfit. "You look nice."

"I thought you had to train? Am I wrong?"

He shook his head no and charged away. I rolled my eyes and continued to Sasuke's house. I went through the market and saw him in my bedroom. He was doing something that sparked my curiosity. I hurried around the other way and clambered to my room. He was gone, but a brand new red jacket laid spread out on my bed. He had gotten it. I hadn't expected this act of kindness. Maybe he just felt sorry for me. That thought caused my face to burn with anger.

**Maybe he's thanking you for wearing something normal!** Akuze suggested rather coldly.

_Are you criticizing my taste in clothing?_

**Yes, no, maybe. Whatever floats your boat, kiddo.**

He called me 'kiddo'? Now that was surprising. Sasuke never rubbed off as the generous type and in my five years of being able to speak with Akuze, he had never called me anything other than Kito or baka. Maybe my wounds were worse than I thought? I could just imagine my conversation with the nurses. _Hello, nurse. I think my injuries are worse than suspected because the demon inside me called me kiddo and he's never called me anything nice in the five years I've been able to speak with him so could you please recheck me for anything that wasn't there before? _They would surely have me placed in a mental ward! At this point I was already on the verge of believing myself insane and the last thing I needed was someone to confirm it to the rest of the world. I just shook my head to clear my thoughts. I heard a knock.

"Come in," I mumbled. It opened to reveal Sasuke.

"May I?"

I nodded. Okay, now this was weird. Why would someone like him start randomly acting so polite? It took my willpower to keep my hands at my side and off of my head in an action of hitting. He dragged a chair behind him as he entered. I raised my eyebrows.

"I don't want to talk."

"Not about Itachi. I want to talk about you."

Whoa. Now I was sure I'd lost my mind. Sasuke worrying about someone other than himself? Especially someone he just met?

"What's wrong with you? Are you feeling okay?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. I want to be able to understand you better."

"No. No one could ever understand me, so I'm not going to give anyone the chance to."

"Please. I-well…Naruto and Sakura want to know what you're all about and they thought that since you're living with me, that I could find out about you and relay the information to them."

"I don't know what I'm all about."

"Tell me about why you came here."

"They wanted me to."

"Who's 'they'?"

"My parents and M-miko!" I cried, allowing my tears to run. I turned to my bed and flopped down face-first. "Leave me alone, baka! Just go! Leave now before I make you!"

He silently stood and left, closing the door behind him. It was hard for me to fall asleep that night. Once I finally did, I dreamed of Miko and my clan.


	6. Chapter 5

**Another day, another disclaimer...you guys know by now that only Akuze, Kito, and Miko are mine.**

**Chapter 5**

_Miko smiled at me with his naturally happy face. Oh how I missed seeing it everyday! He strode over to me and took my hands and we were transported to his home. I immediately took him in a warm embrace. I missed the ability to hug his strong body near my own and feel enlightened when I was feeling sad. Thinking about everything that had been taken from me, I began to cry. Miko wiped my tears and spoke in a ghostly voice._

_"It's ok, Kito. I'll always be just a thought away," he said. As he spoke he and his voice faded into the shadows, leaving me in a misty abyss. I looked around. It was gray fog that faded into a bloody red every now and then. I looked closer and a mirror appeared in front of my face. I took it and looked deep into the glass. What I saw horrified me._

_It was the slaying of my whole clan. I shook my head and threw the mirror into the fog, hearing a crash. Out of the mist where I threw the mirror stepped Itachi with Kiba by the neck. Kiba was bloody and beaten badly. He looked up through swollen eyes and mouthed an apology._

I sat up in bed and held my side. Looking at the clock, I saw it was six in the morning. What I had seen distressed me.I slipped out of bed and dressed myself in my old clothes, leaving the kimono and spandex in the chest of drawers. I tiptoed past Sasuke's room and into the kitchen. The mansion was cold. I went to turn the stove on and it beeped, making me flinch. I looked to the pantry door and opened it. Inside I found some pancake mix. I pulled it out and searched the cupboards for a large mixing bowl and a pan. I found a large wooden spoon in one of the drawers and a measuring cup. No eggs or vegetable oil. I rolled my eyes and went upstairs to retrieve my jacket. When I reached my room I saw the window. I grabbed some money from my nightstand and opened the window. I scaled down the side of the house and into the market.

Only one store had people inside and they looked beyond tired. I knocked on the door and a young man opened it. "May I buy some eggs and vegetable oil, please?" I asked politely. He nodded and retrieved some of each from inside. He was about to say something, but I overpaid him and left. I hurried to the outside of my room and climbed back up using my chakra. I found chakra to be very useful at the most random times of my life. When I was inside, I descended the stairs back to the kitchen.

I poured the mix into the large bowl and measured out the vegetable oil and some water. I took two eggs and cracked them into the bowl. I took the large wooden spoon and stirred it all together. After a few minutes of stirring, I poured the mix into the pan, leaving the bowl with half of the batter left. After five minutes of cooking I flipped the pancake and cooked the other side. I laid it out on a plate and set it on the table. I poured the rest of the batter in and left it on the stove. I went to the bottom of the stairs and screamed Sasuke's name. He shot out of his room, kunai in hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Breakfast's ready," I said cheerfully.

I thought he was about to kill me until he looked down. I could have died of laughter at what he saw. He was in his boxers and nothing else. I giggled when his face beamed red. He quickly disappeared into his room and stepped out with his shorts and tee-shirt on. He descended the stairs and sat down at the table. I fixed his pancake and set it in front of him, getting two sets of forks and knives. He glared at me when I mentioned his little mistake. After we had eaten in silence, for he refused to speak to me, and I had changed, we left to meet the rest of the team. When Naruto saw me, he began to flip out.

"You should be resting Kito, right Sasuke?" Sakura said.

Sasuke grunted with displeasure.

"Sakura's right, you need to be resting. You can't be out here with your injuries so early!" Naruto offered.

"It was only a few little scrapes, Naruto. I'm fine."

"You could have died!"

"I don't care! Right now that would be a blessing!"

Naruto and Sakura just stared in shock. I guess they couldn't handle how much I hated that Miko sacrificed himself for me. I was a worthless genin and he was almost in ANBU. He shouldn't have died. He should have fought back, but I could tell he hadn't. He hadn't fought with all his strength. He had played weak and was murdered. He could have killed them. He really could have, but now Miko was gone and they were still after me. They had even found me. It was Miko's fault. If Miko had killed them when he had the chance instead of offering himself, they wouldn't have found me and almost killed me too. No. It wasn't Miko's fault. He _did _sacrifice himself, but it was to allow me to get to safety. Miko knew what I hate to recognize. He realized he would have died anyway. He knew they would have killed him and then found me. Why did Miko have to be so smart? If he had been stupid like me he could have lived. If he hadn't been brave we would be together training. Thinking about my cousin brought tears to my eyes and Naruto tapped my shoulder.

"Kito? What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"I should be dead and he should be alive. It's my fault," I sighed, leaning against Naruto with my head against his chest. He hesitantly moved his hands to rest on my shoulders.

"I-it's not your fault?" Naruto tried. I could tell he was trying really hard to comfort me, but no one knew my past, thus impairing the healing process.

"Um, Kito, who is 'he'?" Sakura asked.

"Miko. He was my cousin."

"Was?"

"Yeah, he was murdered in cold blood."

"By who?" Naruto piped up.

"The person who tried to kill me. He wants me for some reason and he refused to tell me why," I explained, now standing on my own.

"What happened to him?"

"It's complicated."

"Kakashi-sensei won't be here for a while," Sakura urged. "We've got plenty of time."

"I don't like to talk about it," I tried again.

"You can never be healed until we are allowed to grieve with you," Sakura replied quietly, gently touching my arm.

"Fine."


	7. Chapter 6

**I own Kito and Akuze and no one else.**

**A/N **I was personally surprised at how long I was able to make this chapter! I must let you know how proud of myself I am. Yay me! Enjoy!

**Chapter 6**

"That's horrible!" Sakura cried. I had just finished telling them about Miko and my parents. I was about to tell them about Akuze and my clan's tradition, when Kakashi showed up.

"Kito, you're here," he said bluntly.

"No, actually, I'm not. I'm just a pigment of your imagination," I replied, sarcasm pooling in my voice. He just grunted and motioned us to follow him into the forest. As we walked, I fought the urge to climb the trees and escape. I felt someone on my arm and I turned to see Sakura's concerned face. She stopped me so we would be out of earshot of the other three.

"You looked like you were going to say something else before Kakashi-sensei showed up. What was it?"

"Oh, um, it was nothing," I said, slightly out of it.

"Oh, ok, I just thought that if you'd rather have only one other person know, I could be that person," she replied, her face flashing with dismay. She shook her head and we caught up with the guys. Naruto turned at our approach and smiled.

"Sorry 'bout your cousin, Kito. If you need anything, just ask me and I'll help you out!" he said. I nodded a silent thank you and we continued. Finally Kakashi stopped us at a training ground. He looked to me and then scanned the other three's faces.

"I had prepared some vigorous training, but I don't want to hurt you anymore, Kito," he began. Anger flared inside the pit of my stomach.

"I'll be fine, sensei," I tried to stay calm.

"I don't care, the last thing we need now is the loss of a ninja." I concentrated my chakra into my index and middle fingers on my right hand.

"Bring me that branch," I ordered, pointing to a fallen tree limb. It looked heavy and it took both Sasuke and Naruto to carry it. They held it out in front of me. "Chido," I spoke. As I said it, my fingers glowed blue and wind spiraled into them. I bent my elbow and lightly tapped the branch with my fingers. The branch split in two. The glow left my fingers and I looked to Kakashi. With his mask it was hard to know what he was thinking.

"That took a lot of chakra," he finally spoke. I shook my head 'no' and held my fingers up to my face.

"I have my reserves," I replied nonchalantly. "Shadow ball Jutsu!" I opened my palm and a black, whirling ball of chakra appeared. Naruto and Sakura stared with wide eyes at the ball. "If I hit your heart with this, you'll die instantly. If I hit a vital organ, you'll die a slow and painful death. If I add a sealing jutsu, I can tear your soul right out of your body," I explained triumphantly. Kakashi nodded, his eye seemingly wide. "If I throw it, you'll pretty much die, but I prefer hand-to-hand." I created a fist and the shadow ball disappeared.

"H-how'd you do that?" Naruto asked, coming out of shock. I shrugged.

"Easy if you were taught by-," I broke off, they still didn't know about Akuze. "Never mind. I just experimented with different jutsus a lot."

"But how did you learn to add those specific jutsus to create a deadly weapon?" Sakura asked.

"As I said, I just experimented. Shadow ball's my favorite when I don't have trees. I don't use it too much, but I'll use it in a dyer situation. I don't like using chido very much either. I mainly rely on my senses and tai jutsu."

"Yeah, but people's senses aren't really that great," Naruto began.

"I have super senses. Shall I show you?" They nodded. "Okay, I'll close my eyes and give everyone ten seconds to hide, and then I'll activate them and find you." They nodded again and I shut my eyes. After ten seconds I opened them and whispered, "Activate!" My skin prickled, my ears perked up, my eyes caught heat trails. A faint scent of ramen enticed my nose. I looked to the trail that smelled of ramen. The heat led to a tree branch high up. I could make out the shape of Naruto. I climbed a tree that was a few feet from the one Naruto was hiding in. I got above him and leapt. I had him pinned to the branch beneath my body. "Boo," I whispered in his ear. I covered his mouth with my hand to keep him from screaming. I rolled my eyes and searched for a new heat trail. To my surprise, Kakashi was playing my little "game". I smirked to myself. Finally, a chance to prove my skills to a jonin. I climbed higher into the trees, knowing my attack would work best from above. I may need a clone to distract him from below. I remembered Naruto's favorite jutsu. I descended back to where he was. "Naruto," I whispered. "I need a shadow clone of myself."

"What? Why?"

"Sssh! I need it to distract Kakashi-sensei from below so I can 'attack' from the top." Naruto nodded. He quickly conjured a shadow clone and transformed it to look like me. "See that tree?" I pointed to an old, dead tree with only a few branches. "That's where Kakashi-sensei is hiding. He's a little higher than halfway up the tree. Have the clone climb up from the bottom and make sure it doesn't get hit, okay?" He nodded again and noticed my eyes.

"Y-your eyes!" he whispered. I nodded.

"I know, now do what I told you and distract him really well. Try anything you think I might do and make it good." He nodded and we parted ways. I climbed to the top again and jumped to his tree, landing lightly. I silently crawled down the tree, head first, until I saw him. I let go, flipping and retrieving a kunai in the air, and landed on his back. I flashed the kunai to his throat and went to his ear. "Caught ya!" I whispered slyly. I felt him chuckle beneath me and nod.

"You're good, but I wasn't trying. That shadow clone you had Naruto make for you was smart. Plus you strategically placed it beneath me to leave my head vulnerable to attack. Miko has trained you well. Oh, and when you go after Sasuke, beware of his Sharingan." With his little speech made, Kakashi disappeared. I was wasting time by staying here. I searched for a new heat trail. I could pick out Kakashi and Naruto, but Sakura and Sasuke were no where to be found. Time to switch senses. I tuned into my ears and breathed slowly, allowing for me to use my touch.

I heard a heartbeat to the left. It was nervous and came from a weaker heart. Sakura. Sadly, girls always seemed to have the weaker heartbeats. I moved quickly, following my ears until I picked up her heat trail, giving me a more accurate position. I decided to take her from the side, but then she moved up the tree. I'd have to get her from below at this close. I waited until she seemed distracted and sped to the branch below her, veering upwards sharply. I grabbed her around the ankles and pulled her down to my eye level. I thought she was going to faint. Now all I had left was my host. Kakashi had said something about Sasuke having Sharingan. I decided to consult Akuze. _Know anything about Sharingan?_ I thought.

**Yep** came the bored voice.

_Care to share?_

**Fine. Sharingan is the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan.**

_So Sasuke's an Uchiha. _

**No, of course not. Sometimes you need to use your head!**

_Akuze? _I heard no reply. Great. Miko had told me he would teach me about Sharingan, but he never did. He only hinted something about copying techniques, but he never properly taught me. Now, Akuze's temper had the best of him. We'd always been on thin ice with each other, but he had never just stopped speaking to me. There was something about this place that was making him edgy and I needed to find out. He normally helped me out in battle or little games like this. I understood he liked to be quiet most of the time, but he didn't even help me out when Itachi attacked me. I'd have to speak with him about it later, but right now I needed to get my host. I listened for a heartbeat or breathing. Once I picked out a heart, I searched for heat through the trees. He was directly across from me. I smirked and decided to have a bit of fun with him.

"Transform!" I said quietly. In a puff of smoke, I transformed into Sakura. I hoped she wouldn't mind me borrowing her shape for a bit. I climbed to the ground and ran to the base of his tree. I climbed up under him and poked his foot. He almost fell out of the tree with surprise.

"Sakura!" he hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"I just thought we could hide together," I said innocently.

"No. That will just get us caught sooner."

"Too late." He looked at me quizzically and I flashed a kunai from my pouch and pinned him to the trunk of the tree, kunai glinting at his throat.

"W-what?" he still stared at me in shock. I giggled and transformed back into myself without removing the kunai.

"C'mon, I've already found everybody else," I said nonchalantly, replacing the kunai knife in my pouch. I jumped from the tree and caught a branch to stop my fall. I released it and dropped unharmed to the ground. I looked to my side in time to see Sasuke, still shocked, show up. I motioned to him and we both ran for the clearing.


	8. Chapter 7

**Okay, well sorry this chapter is short. I also make this disclaimer as a uni-story discalimer, so I don't have to write one for every chapter! Yay! Enjoy the shortness!**

**Chapter 7**

Training was boring that day because even though I had found everybody quickly, Kakashi still didn't believe I was ready for serious training. This accusation set me in a really bad mood all day. It didn't help that when I tried to talk to Akuze, he just ignored me. Still, Sasuke was impressed with how easily I had tricked him. Good Lord, he's got a big ego! I mean, seriously! He thought that he could easily avoid me even without his Sharingan. How egotistic is that? When we were walking back, I had decided to ask _him _about Sharingan because Akuze would have nothing to do with me. He even told me about what Itachi did to his clan. Now I had something to hate Itachi for other than killing my family and randomly attacking me.

We had just finished talking when there was a knock on the front door. I went down to answer it, puzzled at who would be there. I found it to be Sakura.

"Sasuke's not here, sorry," I said, not wanting to even bother to retrieve him.

"I'm not here for him. Lady Hokage has sent a message to you. Here," she handed me a scroll with my name on it. I took it from her and said good-bye, shutting the door. I opened it and tried to read what it said. I couldn't read it very well, for it was messy, but I could form an understanding. As I read the contents, tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Sasuke came downstairs and was about to say something when he saw I was reading something and crying. He began reading over my shoulder and I heard him gasp lightly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure," he said.

"What's with your brother and killing off whole clans?" I knew from the silence that followed I had poked an open wound. I turned to see him looking down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that."

"No, it's okay. It's all true anyway." Sasuke looked up, an unfathomable amount of pain had taken over his eyes, turning them into black pools of emotion.

"Why is he evil?" I couldn't believe how curious I was being.

"He is consumed with greed over his Sharingan."

"There is another reason. What is it?" I could tell he was avoiding a different answer.

"He wants an avenger to kill him." I pointed to him and he nodded.

"Well, don't become that avenger," I said simply.

"But, he'll continue to kill until I kill him."

"I understand he wants you to kill him, but what if you're not good enough. You'll just give him what he wants. It's like when I was little. Miko used to take my favorite toys all the time and when I got mad at him I was only giving him satisfaction. You said yourself, Itachi _wants _you to kill him."

"What if he comes back for you?"

"Let him. Me and Akuze can handle him fine."

"Akuze?" Sasuke stared at me like I had lost my mind. "Who's Akuze?"

"Uh, it's kinda hard to explain…" I began, scratching the back of my head.

"We've got time. My bedtime isn't for a while." I could hear the smartness in his voice. I rolled my eyes and sat down, with a mumbled "fine" to satisfy him.

"Where I come from, only a few children are born with chakra. The kids with chakra are highly valued and expected to eventually protect the village from invaders. Miko was the only other person in the village with chakra when I was born. Each 'chakra-child', if you will, is given the gift of a demon at birth." I looked to him, shock had masked his face. This puzzled me.

"T-they sealed demons inside the babies for no reason?"

"Basically."

"That's horrible!"

"Not really."

"What? Why?"

I shook my head and continued, "The demons were considered gifts because of the different Kekkei Genkai each possessed along with the extra chakra. It was really a way to protect the children from harm. We were taught how to communicate with our demons when we were eight. The demons helped us in training and also taught us how to activate their Kekkei Genkai and how to tap into their chakra. That's why I have super senses. They really come from Akuze, my demon. I talk to him sometimes. He's supposed to help me, but I don't really think he likes me that much."

**Tough love, Kito, tough love.**

I could feel my face twist into a look of disbelief. Sasuke looked at me quizzically. "A-akuze just said something relatively nice," I tried to explain.

"What did he say?"

"He said 'Tough love, Kito, tough love.' He sounded almost sad," I said, my voice sounded dazed to even myself.

"I guess that means he likes you, Kito. Oh, and tomorrow Naruto and I were going to spar with Hinata, Kiba, and Shino and Naruto wanted me to invite you. I hope you'll be ready. You'll probably spar with Kiba or Shino, but I can't make any promises." He left after that. All I could think about was Kiba Inuzuka. He met me at the hospital and brought me flowers. Plus, he had that cute little puppy named Akamaru. That night, all I dreamed of was the next day.


	9. Chapter 8

**Well, yay! Next chapter! I better start writing again...I'm almost caught up with where I am...-hurries to write- Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8**

I awoke to Sasuke shaking me violently. I groaned and pushed him away, mumbling something about ten more minutes. He didn't let down, coming back to shake me some more. I shot up in bed, my eyes flaming with fury.

"WHAT?" I screeched, reaching out to shake him.

"Wake up, it's time for the spars," he said, avoiding my flailing arms.

"Does it look like I'm sleeping?"

"Whatever, you don't have to come if you don't want to, but you sounded pretty eager last night."

I sighed and dragged myself out of bed. I shoved him towards the door and told him to wait for me while shutting him out. I had thoughts about just going back to bed, but decided to go ahead and go with him and Naruto. I went to the window to check the temperature once I was dressed and decided to go ahead and take my jacket with me. I ran downstairs and Sasuke offered me a rice ball. I gratefully accepted it and ate as we left.

"So, why isn't Sakura coming?" I asked when I was finished.

"She didn't want to, seeing as this was one of our rare days off," Sasuke said without looking at me. I shrugged and donned my jacket when we reached the edge of the forest. We continued down a narrow path until we came to a training ground. I spotted Kiba first and then matched up Shino and Hinata with their faces. I looked around and pointed out the tree above me to Sasuke.

"Naruto's planning on jumping me like I did to him when I first arrived," I whispered in his ear. "I'll keep him busy while you push him out." Sasuke nodded and disappeared into the trees behind us. I crossed my arms and waited. I smirked when I heard Naruto's muffled voice filled with surprise. It wasn't long until a bound and gagged Naruto was at my feet. Sasuke arrived soon after.

"Howdunoiasere?" Naruto asked. I removed the gag and untied him, allowing him to speak better. "How'd you know I was there?" he repeated, rubbing his cheek where a red mark was beginning to swell.

"It wasn't that hard, Naruto. You make so much noise," I explained.

"He w-was s-silent to m-me," Hinata spoke up.

"Yes, but you don't have the Kekkei Genkai I do," I said, remembering my talk with Sasuke.

"W-what kind of K-kekkei Genkai?" she inquired. I rolled my eyes inconspicuously before replying.

"Super senses. There's really no name for it because it is a trait of myself and is not inherited."

"What do you mean?" this time the question came from Shino.

"None in my family have it and my children will not be able to inherit it because it is specific to me. I am the only one I know of in this world who possesses my Kekkei Genkai. My cousin had a different Kekkei Genkai than me."

"How is that possible?" Shino inquired further.

"She doesn't have to explain why she's different from you," Sasuke saved me. I really didn't want anyone to know about Akuze. He spoke rather harshly, though.

Shino shrugged slightly, though it was difficult to see under his large coat. His glasses and oversized coat added an air of mystery to the young shinobi. I looked him over. He seemed taller in person. Hinata seemed overly shy. Her stuttering led me to think that. Obviously she didn't talk much. I looked over to Kiba. Surprisingly he hadn't said anything. I walked up to him.

"Y-you're looking better. I didn't think I'd see you here today. Are you feeling all right?" he said.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for the flowers. They were pretty. Just, please, don't go easy on me because I won't go easy on you." The last part came out a little meaner than I had wanted it to. I guess the others thought so too, because they were all staring at me. I looked back to Kiba to see a new fire burning.

"Oh, don't worry about that! I'll have you beat before you can say your own name, Kushikito Jiruki!" I smiled at this. Normally arrogance turned me off, but Kiba's was rather cute. I leaned in close.

"It's a long name, care to make a little wager?"

"I win and you take me on a date. You win and I take you on a date. Deal?" His bet shocked me a bit. Either way, we both won. He was smirking deviously and I just had to smile. He was straightforward and _very _cocky, but still.

"Sure," I said, sticking out my hand to shake on it. Instead of shaking my hand, he kissed my cheek, widening my eyes to the point of bursting. I blushed when he pulled away. I had only known him for a few days and now… I turned my attention to Naruto and Sasuke whose eyes were boring into mine. Their expressions made me want to burst out laughing. I saw Hinata and Shino looking less shocked. They must have known.

"Let's get going!" Kiba snapped angrily, shaking everyone out of their trance. "Everyone knows their opponent, so let's go, people!" I smirked and shot into the nearest tree, activating my ears to be able to memorize Kiba's heartbeat. It was strong and I could even hear the faster beat of Akamaru's heart. It wouldn't be too hard to pick them out if I happened to come across one of the others. It felt good to have someone to fight against. Knowing his cocky attitude, he would believe the odds were in his favor. I found a good spot to stop and properly activate all my senses. They would help me not only find Kiba, but make sure I didn't attack the wrong person. I heard the snap of a branch and looked towards it, straining to tell who it was. If I tried, I could find who it was through sound. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the place. I heard one, strong heartbeat accompanied by thousands of little heartbeats. Shino? Probably. All I knew was that whoever it was wasn't my target.

I decided to keep moving and stay off the ground. Once I reached an area where I could here no more human heartbeats, I stopped. Maybe I had gone too far? Well, I guess there's no such thing. I thought about going back, but decided that as long as I could stay hidden, I could get some rest. I stretched and leaned against the trunk of the tree I was on. I surrendered control of my ears to Akuze and told him to wake me if he heard anything. He grudgingly agreed, making me think I had woken him up or something. It wasn't long before sleep claimed my body.


	10. Chapter 9

**Okay, well this is the shortest thing you will ever see...I'm sorry it's so dang short. I just, well, I don't know, but whatever. I'll do chapter 10 to make it up to you.**

**Chapter 9**

**Wake up! Kito, I heard something! Get your lazy butt in gear and find out what it was! **Akuze's voice rang loudly throughout my head, giving me a headache. I had been having such a nice nap too. I shook my head and stood, reactivating my senses. The moment my eyes went red I saw a mass of heat charging right for me.

I squealed at the sight and immediately left my roost for another tree nearby. I kept moving in circles until I was behind my opponent. I followed him until I could recognize his heartbeat as Kiba's. It was only a moment later that I heard Akamaru barking in my direction. _Crap!_

**You'd better do something or he'll catch you.**

_I know that. I'm trying to think of a plan!_

**Think faster!**

I mumbled under my breath and decided I'd need to use something other than Tai jutsu. I concentrated my chakra to my fingers, preparing for Chido. Now, all I had to do was get them above me in a tree and I could knock them out of it. I dropped down to the ground and transformed into a rock. I had transformed just in time, for Kiba was next to me just as the smoke cleared. Only a moment later Akamaru was sniffing at me. He lifted his leg and I freaked out. I kept thinking _please don't pee on me!_

Kiba turned his back and Akamaru went over to him. If I could move fast enough, I could get him quickly. I released the transformation and jumped on his back piggy-back style. I held my finger to his throat as a kunai and leaned in to his ear.

"Got ya!" I whispered sweetly. He chuckled and dropped to the ground. "I suggest you get ready for our date, Kiba." I got off of him and stuck my hand out to help him up. He took my hand and tried to pull me down, but I held my ground.

"That's not very nice, now is it, Kito?" he said jokingly.

"I'd like to speak with whoever said I was nice." He just laughed and stood up.

"You're lucky I used my finger instead of a kunai. I was about to, but then stopped myself." I saw a bit of his color drain.

"You'd use a kunai?"

"Yeah, I used one on my own team when we were playing hide-and-seek." I shrugged after I spoke.

"Naruto was right. You are tough."

"Naruto was talking about me?"

"Yeah, the day you were attacked. I was all worried you'd die, but Naruto told me you were pretty tough from what he heard and that you'd be fine."

"I guess you were pretty surprised when you saw me this morning."

"Yeah, I was really afraid I was going to hurt you and then you told me to not go easy on you because you were fine."

"Did he tell you about when I first arrived?"

"Yeah, I thought it was pretty crazy, what you did and all to him. He got mad at me when I laughed." I giggled.

"Come get me from Sasuke's house tonight at nineteen hundred hours. I'll be waiting!" with my little speech, I left the dog and boy and went towards my 'home'.


	11. Chapter 10

**This chapter is pretty long, so I hope it makes up for chapter 9.**

**Chapter 10**

I had spent all day looking for something new to wear. I mean, I can't just wear my street clothes, this was a very important step in my relationship with Kiba. When Sasuke had finally come back, he was very interested in who had won. I had just smirked and asked him who he thought had won. He told me he had thought Kiba had won just to piss me off, so I shoved him into the wall and shook my head. I left him before I had the chance to do anything else to him.

I combed through each store, leaving a path of chaotic mess and disappointment in my wake. I had been out for two hours already and I knew it would take at least another hour and a half to prepare myself. This new frustration just sent my mind spinning with stress. I had to find something and fast. At this point I was just window shopping when I spotted it. It was like it called out to me and boy was I glad I answered it!

I was perfectly happy with just walking right through the doors without even bothering to open them, but I decided that would make the bill skyrocket. When you're training, expensive things are naturally avoided, so I ended up pulling the doors open. Most of the clothing looked super expensive, luckily, though, it was in the sale section. I immediately rushed to the dressing stations, almost running over a few of the other customers on my way. I almost forgot to undress first, which caused me to blush even though I was alone. Once I had properly removed my other clothes and slipped into the new kimono, I exited my station to observe myself at all angles in the three-sided mirror. It fit perfectly.

It was a deep, crimson red and utterly seductive. It had no sleeves and the neck came halfway up my neck. Fake crystals lined the top of the neck and the bottom of the front and back flaps. The sides didn't come up near as high as the kimono I just removed, so I wouldn't have to wear anything under it. There was a small, white rose above where each slit closed up. _Kiba will definitely love it, _I thought.

**Yeah, I think he will.** Hearing the wolf's deep voice in my head caused me to jump. I had been so engrossed in the dress, I had completely forgotten the creature inside me who could hear my thoughts.

After Akuze's encouraging words, I proudly went and bought the red kimono, even though it was slightly more expensive than I had hoped. I asked the clerk for the time and she told me it was half past five. I almost forgot my new apparel at the speed I left. I ran back home, the trip seemingly took longer than I thought it should have. I accidentally knocked Sasuke over when I barreled through the front door. He stopped me to ask who was after me when he saw the red kimono, shaking his head to dismiss me.

I quickly bathed and dried my hair. Once I was dressed, I slowed down, taking time to pretty my face with make-up that I didn't even remember I had, but that didn't matter to me at that moment. I decided to pull my hair back in a loose, full ponytail. I hadn't worn my hair in a full ponytail since I was ten. With five minutes left until Kiba arrived, I sucked in all the air my lungs could hold, trying in vain to calm myself down so I wouldn't look so flustered when he arrived. I heard a knock on the front door and stood slowly, afraid I might get dizzy if I tried too fast. I took another deep breath and left my room to descend the stairs.

I found Kiba and Sasuke chatting away quietly. They both looked up when I entered the room. Their eyes went wide. I bet they could have put the oceans to shame. I giggled quietly to myself when Kiba finally found the courage to speak up.

"Y-you look nice, Kito."

"Thanks," I replied, swiftly taking his arm and whisking him out the door before Sasuke could do anything. Once we were away from the house, I looked expectantly to Kiba.

"What?" he asked, I just raised my eyebrows. "Oh, yeah, well, I thought we could have a picnic in the forest." He began leading me to the forest, often glancing at me to take in my new look.

"You like?" I asked after a while. He just nodded. We stopped just outside the forest, in the full wash of the full moon. He looked at my left shoulder and moved his hand to the scarring cut, tracing it with his finger. I sighed under my breath and he pulled away.

"Sorry," he muttered, barely audible. Suddenly, I realized something wasn't right.

"Where's Akamaru," I demanded.

"I decided to leave him home, I mean, this is _our _time together and I thought he might just interrupt." This surprised me. The little puppy and the boy seemed inseparable and now he was telling me he left the fur ball at home? Something was definitely wrong here, but this wasn't my business to burrow into, so I decided to leave it there and we continued into the forest.

"Kiba?"

"Yeah?"

"W-where's the picnic?" I finally asked. It had been a really long time since we had entered the forest.

"Right here."

I didn't have time to react. I found it impossible to scream. I couldn't fight back. A familiar face had been thrust into my own and heavy hands held my hands above my head. I had been thrown against a tree.

"Itachi!" I hissed with surprise mixed with fear.

"That's me," he replied, a venomous smirk had settled on his lips.

"What do you want."

"I like your new outfit," he said, ignoring my demand. I struggled slightly under his iron grip as his face was brought only an inch from my own.

"What. Do. You. WANT?" I repeated angrily.

"Only a few things," he hinted. This was beyond frustrating. Why the cryptic messages that I was totally oblivious to the meaning of? He went to holding my arms with one hand and, with his free hand, he tilted my chin upwards towards his face and did the impossible.

He stole a soft kiss from my lips. When he was finished, he smirked. I gave him the harshest glare I had, my lips pursed to a thin line. He just loved giving me things to hate him for. I couldn't even struggle from shock.

"Where's Kiba," I demanded, finally breaking the long silence.

"I'll tell you when I get what I want," his voice was cold and filled with hatred again.

"I can't give it to you unless I know what it is!" I cried out, my distress obviously pleased him. I think my desperation and obedience helped a little bit, too. He just patted my cheek.

"Ask Akuze," he said simply, disappearing before I had the chance to do anything. I slumped to the ground, waiting for the tears to come, but nothing ran from my eyes.

"Where's Kiba?" I asked myself quietly. "What am I going to do? Sasuke saw us leaving. What does he want?" I felt the hot tears well up in my eyes.

**Kito, he wants your heart.** Akuze's voice sounded ashamed and I couldn't even begin to ponder why.


	12. Chapter 11

**Okay people, I'm seriously lacking on reviews! How am I supposed to know what I could improve on if no one ever tells me! Okay, rant over, enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

When I returned from my forest encounter with Itachi, Sasuke stared at me strangely.

"What?" I spat.

"Date gone bad?" Humor touched his voice and his black eyes.

"Horribly."

"What did he do?"

"He wasn't there. It wasn't him."

"What are you talking about? I saw you guys leave together."

"Whatever. Just don't ask questions."

I knew I must have looked miserable. Even though he hadn't attacked me, the pain of not knowing what he had done with Kiba was worse than any physical wound. I changed into my night clothes and climbed into bed, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep at all. I had no idea what he would be doing to Kiba and Akamaru. I shot up straight in bed and yelped a little. He could have already killed them or be planning on killing them very soon. I quickly changed into the black clothing I arrived in and leapt through the window, but not before scribbling a note for Sasuke.

I sprinted for the forest with no ideas of how on earth I was going to find the older Uchiha. I thought of little plans of how I was going to deal with him. Most of them began after I had him against a tree or half dead, but I knew I had to somehow get him in those conditions before I could enact any of my torturous plans. My favorite included me sending shocks through his body until his heart stopped. My second favorite included me taking out his stomach with a shadow ball and letting him starve to death. I thought about getting him quickly, but then the memory of his kekkei genkai kept me wary.

I moved quickly and silently, keeping my ears sharp and my hands ready for signs. It wasn't long until I found a training ground. I skirted the outsides of it, fearing what direct exposure would do for my cover. I heard movement in the trees and flattened my body against the tree I was in. It was then that I spied his large shape just inside the reach of the shadows. I knew he had been looking for me as well. I stayed light in the treetops, moving quickly to where he stood. All in one fluid motion I crashed on top of Itachi and he folded me into his cloak, working quickly to get me in a police hold against the nearest tree. I groaned loudly as he repeatedly and unnecessarily slammed me into the trunk.

"Stop!" I finally screeched out and, to my surprise, he did. I was panting as he turned me around and touched my shoulder, causing me to cringe back into the tree. "Stop." this time it came out as a whisper.

"What do you want." I whimpered silently to myself as his icy voice turned the question venomous.

"I-where is he?"

"I thought we had already gone through with this part of our relationship?"

"What relationship!" I blurted out too loudly. Once the angry words left my mouth, I cowered back and settled with a pain-filled glare.

"If you remember correctly, you will see we _do _have something going on, am I wrong?"

"My memory's fine, but it's not warped your attacks into the beginnings of a relationship like yours has!"

"My mind is not warped!" anger flared in his eyes as he spat the words out. I felt him push me further into the tree and it was starting to hurt.

"Get off."

"Why should I?" He came closer to my face and instinct made me turn my face away. My heart picked up speed and I could see from my peripheral vision that he had noticed and was smirking.

"Just leave me alone! Seriously, what's your problem? Going around and killing whole clans and stealing girls' boyfriends! Why don't you pick up a new hobby like knitting?" His smirk instantly vanished, leaving a brooding frown in its wake.

"I've already tried knitting, but let's just say it didn't work out?" I couldn't suppress a giggle and the moment it escaped, Itachi loosened his grip. "You like my jokes?"

"I don't know if it's the joke or the look on your face."

"Oh, I see." He turned his back on me to think. I was trying to decide whether to take advantage of this and get him under my knife or to just leave him alone and get him later. His strange sense of humor got the best of me and I gave up on my original plans.

"Fine, you win." My words obviously caught him off guard as he turned around.

"What do you mean?" His words and expression were guarded, as if he suspected me of a trick.

"What I say, you win."

"Win what?"

"What you want." I could tell in the darkness he was thinking about what I had said. He was silent and his face was turned away from me once more. I reached forward to touch his arm and he turned to face me again, pulling me into a hug at the same time.

"You're serious?" I nodded.

"All I ask is that you please don't break it."

"I would never!" His voice had risen with pained anger.

"I'm sorry," I muttered quietly.

"There's nothing to be sorry of, Kito. You do realize what this means, right?" I looked up to meet his red eyes that glowed slightly in the darkness of the forest. I hadn't realized how late it had gotten.

"No, I can't." I shook my head as I spoke the trembling words.

"But Kito, you know long distance relationships never work."

"We have to make it work. I can't leave. Mi…" my words faded and I looked away. I couldn't believe I'd just done what I did without thinking of what Itachi had done and how much I had wanted to kill him before.

"Kito? What's wrong?" An unfamiliar tone touched his voice. It was concern. It sounded strange when his voice was involved.

"It's nothing, Itachi, really." I couldn't believe I had so willingly given him my love without thinking. But, that's what love is supposed to be, right? To adore without thinking? If what I had been taught was true, I had a decision in my future. I'd have to choose between going along with everything I'd set ahead of me and just totally destroying all my plans for someone I'd only known for a short time and had attacked me.


	13. Chapter 12

**Okay, so this is a bit short, fine it _is _short. Anyways, my friend told me this was out of Itachi's nature, but whatever. I'd tell you more, but then that would ruin th story! So enjoy the shortness (again)!**

**Chapter 12**

I hadn't really realized when I had arrived back at Sasuke's house. I had been too enthralled with my train of thought and the bickering going on inside my head between my loyalties and what I wanted. I knew no one would take this well. I was having a hard time deciding who would be hurt the most by my strange decision. I had it narrowed down to Sasuke and Kiba. I knew Sasuke would probably self implode from anger and I knew Kiba would probably either die of a broken heart on the spot or take his own life.

I sighed and sucked in a lungful of air before pushing through the front door, half expecting Sasuke to be asleep. He managed to pull surprise into my face. There, on the couch, sat Sasuke Uchiha. He turned to look at me as I entered the over-sized house.

"I found your note," he said groggily. He must have been asleep on the couch.

"Oh, well, I meant for you to not worry about me, that's why I left it," I spoke slowly, trying to help him in his tiredness.

"I know." I cringed as anger took over his voice. "Don't ever leave without telling me where you're going! How was I supposed to come save you if you found yourself in trouble?"

"Sheesh, dad, I'll remember that next time!" He glared as the word "dad" left my mouth.

"Lady Hokage told me to look after you, Kito. How am I supposed to do that when you're running off in the middle of the night without telling me where you are," he tried again. This time I looked away from him and muttered a "sorry". "Whatever. Just don't do it again." He was his calm self again. I nodded theatrically and dragged myself up the stairs with a touch of drama. I heard Sasuke sigh.

With a giggle, I changed and hopped into bed. A gentle tapping on my window startled me and I ended up upside down on the ceiling, kunai in hand. Suddenly a familiar face peered into my room. I breathed a sigh of relief and dropped to the ground, placing the kunai on my night table. I strolled over to the window and let my new love in.

"Trying to kill me?" I asked once he was inside.

"If you have a heart attack, I'll just give you mouth-to-mouth," he replied nonchalantly. He saw me blush and smirked, drawing closer to me. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" I nodded slightly.

"Would you like to do a little demonstration?" He smirked and before I had time to take a breath, his lips covered mine in a gentle kiss. He pulled away and I thought I was going to faint. "T-thanks."

"N-no problem." I heard him falter through the first word and looked up. A slight pink touched his cheeks.

"Are you blushing?" I teased.

"At least not as much as you are." That was when I felt the heat in my cheeks. I went to the mirror and blushed even harder if it's possible. He was suddenly standing behind me, arm around my waist. He gently squeezed my side, tickling me. I jumped slightly and shrieked a little louder than I would have liked, but he had accomplished what he wanted: there was no room between us. He wrapped his arm around me even tighter.

"How long are you in town?"

"I leave tomorrow."

"So I guess that ruins any plans of spending time together?" I didn't want him to leave so soon! I had just given him my heart and he had to leave tomorrow? Totally unfair, if you ask me.

"I'm truly sorry, Kito. I wish I could stay longer. Not only is it dangerous, but I have other things to do. I'll be back soon, I promise."

"You'd better be, or you might just lose your new girlfriend." He growled under his breath, making me giggle.

"I should go. Wait for me, Kito."

"I will. Oh, hey when will Kiba be returned to the village?"

"He was never taken."

"What? You caused me so much trouble over someone who had never even been kidnapped in the first place?!" I had turned on him, glaring angrily.

"Yep, I guess so."

"Itachi Uchiha! I cannot believe you would do such a thing! I could hav-" My ranting was cut off by his soft lips against mine. All anger I had felt was instantly washed away.

"I'm evil, remember? Good-bye and good-night, sweetie," he said wistfully.

"B-bye and n-night," I managed as he reached the window. He was gone in an instant. I heard a soft knock on my door and was reluctantly drawn back to the real world. "C-come in." I shook my head to reinstate whatever normality was left after I had decided to date someone so evil. I looked towards the door and saw Sasuke.

"You okay?" he asked warily.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Oh, well I heard you shriek and then I heard you talking to someone."

"Oh, that. I was just, um, talking to myself?"

"That's a little weird, but sure, whatever. Night. No more talking to yourself, okay? Some of us like to sleep."

"Sure." I nodded to dismiss him and he left, closing my door behind him. I sat down on my bed, contemplating the day's action and wondering if it had really happened instead of being just a freakishly detailed dream. As I lay under my covers, my head on the pillow, I drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	14. Chapter 13

**I wrote a songfic as a prologue-type-thing/historical-thing for the main character of a new story I'm starting. Please read it and review. Please. I'm serious. Review this story, too, please. I don't like begging, but you've all let me down. Okay, ranting over, enjoy!**

**Chapter 13**

I felt a finger stabbing into my arm and opened my eyes. It was Sasuke. Waking me up. Again. What was his problem! Could he not leave a girl alone for five minutes? Five minutes is all I wanted. I supposed I should humor him and yell at him. I opened my eyes and jumped on him, wrestling him to the ground.

"What do you want now?" I asked, sitting up on his back.

"We have a mission, Kito. Could you not overreact so much? I mean sheesh! You could accidentally kill a man."

"I already know what _you're _mission is," I grumbled lowly.

"Hn?"

"To keep me from sleeping! If you would just let me sleep, I might not kill you when you wake me up!"

"If you went to bed earlier you wouldn't be such a b-I mean grouch! What were you doing last night, anyway?" Great. He was changing the subject.

"I was…I forgot my jacket." I hoped it wasn't a thin lie.

"You're lying." But, Sasuke proved me wrong. "Where were you last night?"

"I am not obliged to truthfully answer your questions. I have been sworn to silence. Please accept this reality and stop trying." I tried to sound as formal as possible. It was true. There was no way I could possibly answer his question without having a threat of death from his side. I studied his expression. He was angry. I supposed he was at the point of restraining himself from stabbing me.

"Whatever. Just get dressed and let's go." No. It was impossible to think he had given up that quickly. I would have to be on high alert for an ambush later.

"Ok. I'll be right down." Once the door was shut, I flopped down on my bed. I really wished we didn't have to fight all the time. He was so…annoying. I had never really talked to Naruto, but according to Sakura, he was pretty annoying. How could she like the jerk I had been stuck with? Yeah, I admit, he was cute and all, but there are more factors other than looks.

"Kito! Hurry up!" I heard a Sasuke yell.

"Coming!" I grumbled quietly as I got dressed. I hurried down the steps and almost ran into Sasuke. He grabbed my arm and dragged me out the door. He didn't let go until we reached the Hokage's building. Naruto and Sakura were standing there. I caught the flash of jealousy as it quickly shot through Sakura's eyes. As Sasuke and Naruto decided to race up the steps, I went over to her.

"You're not missing anything fun," I told her, trying to reassure her that nothing was going on between us.

"What do you mean?" I think I caught her off guard.

"Sasuke is so…just GAAAGH! I think I may rip my hair out or self implode if he just…UGH! God, he's so annoying! How can you _stand _him? I mean, every morning he pokes me or shakes me to wake me up. I still can't see why you love him. I certainly couldn't stand all his annoying little ways of getting in my head and everything else." I had finally burst. I believe I could have spontaneously combusted on site had it not been for us reaching the top of the steps. The boys had already disappeared inside.

"I don't know. He's just…different than most people think. He doesn't want pity or comforting words. He doesn't want kindness. I really can't give an honest question as to why, though," she replied, her voice low in case they were close. She felt it too. Of course, it was towards someone who I could never see anyone liking in the next million years, but at least I had someone to talk to about it.

"Sakura." I grabbed her arm to stop her. She just looked at me. "I'm going to tell you something, but it's super important that you not tell a soul, promise?"

"Yes, of course, Kito." I could tell she was a little nervous about the subject of my secret.

"I don't really know how to say this, so I'll quit trying to beat around the bush. I'm in love with…Itachi. There. Please don't hate me or tell anyone. I really don't want him to get hurt, please." She was silent. I didn't know if it was from shock of hearing of my love for her love's enemy or if she was just thinking.

"I see. I won't tell. Let's go learn about our new mission now, okay?" I nodded. She was quite monotone with her answer and this concerned me. I was contemplating what she would do with the information I had provided her with and every time I thought I reached a conclusion, it was disloyal on her part. I knew that I could trust her and I hated coming up with thoughts of her betraying me and informing my love to the village. I feared how the Hokage would react. I knew subconsciously that I should trust my new world better, but found it hard for some reason. Miko was right about the real world and I hated to admit that. When we reached the Hokage's office, the door was already open, the boys standing just inside.

"Thank you for coming. I have an important spy mission for you. It is potentially dangerous and has been filed as B-ranked. Do you accept?" Lady Hokage explained.

"Kakashi?" Sasuke asked quickly.

"Busy," Lady Tsunade replied. We all nodded in unison. "So, you accept?" Another nod. "We have had reports of Itachi Uchiha being spotted in the village and the surrounding forest. I would like you four to see what he is up to immediately and report back with your finds. He has also been seen with another person not from the Akatsuki. I believe who ever it is he was with was a new inductee of the Akatsuki. If you see Itachi and the mystery person do not attack. Sasuke, do you understand me? No attacking whatsoever."

We all nodded again. Listening to her words sparked alarm within me. I knew why he had come and I knew where he was and I knew who the "mystery" person was. I knew everything she wanted us to find out and more. If I gave the information, would I be looked at harshly? Would Sasuke ban me from his home? Would the Hokage ban me from the village? It was worth a try. As everyone was leaving, I stopped them.

"Lady Hokage, with the greatest respect, I already know everything you are sending us to find out." I really hoped she wouldn't start with accusations. She just nodded curiously. "Well, uh, Itachi was here for business and, uh, the person he was with is safe in the village. He or she is unharmed mentally and physically. He's already gone from the woods. He, um, took everything with him. I believe that he won't return." _At least for anything but me_, I added mentally. I hoped my "report" was convincing enough. The Hokage seemed content.

**Kito, this is dangerous…** Akuze began.

_You know what? I don't remember you being there when I was in the forest, so you can just stay out unless told otherwise! _I warned, putting a sharp edge on my thoughts. I heard the wolf demon growl, but it soon faded.

"Is that where you were, Kito?" Sasuke asked. I nodded and he looked away to think. I would have to stay on this whole me tracking Itachi thing for a while. Maybe his belief in my lie would keep me safe from his question for now.

"Well, I guess that takes care of one mission. Well, that's it," the Hokage said.


	15. Chapter 14

**Yet another museless chapter. Oh, well, at least it explains some things, I guess...I don't really know, but I _do _know the next chapters bring the excitement back. I know I've already begged everyone to review and now I'm on my knees with virtual cookies. Please, review. I'm serious. I'm getting very discouraged and might not continue if this keeps up...anyways, I'm hoping to write some more over the holiday break. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 14**

While we all left for ramen, Naruto's treat, I could feel Sasuke's black eyes boring into my back. I felt my ears heating up, I couldn't stand it. I decided I would calmly ask him what he thought he was accomplishing by staring at me. I turned on my toe and leapt at him. Surprised, he caught my arms, but my weight brought us down. He was pinned beneath me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why do you just keep staring at me?" So much for calm.

"Is that where you were?" he asked, slightly dazed.

"What?"

"The stuff you said about Itachi. Is that where you were?"

"I was spying on him, okay." Sasuke looked off to the side and I stood.

"I see. I guess I owe you an apology."

"Yeah, but you're not one to admit you were wrong, are you." Another prude statement. I knew it was true, no matter how awful it might be. He sighed and shook his head. "Whatever." He rolled his eyes and stood silently. It was then that I realized that Sakura and Naruto were giving me strange looks. I brushed myself off and shrugged to Sakura. I thought I saw the corner of her mouth twitch into a second-long smile. I motioned to Sakura for us to keep moving and she hesitated a moment before turning and continuing with me. We brushed past Naruto who watched us go before going to Sasuke's side.

"You okay?" I heard him whisper. I couldn't hear Sasuke's reply, but I knew he was going to talk to me sooner or later. I decided to leave the thoughts of the future for a bit and talk to Sakura.

"So, um, how're you doing, Sakura?"

"Oh, um, I'm fine. How are things with you?" I shrugged and she sighed. We continued in silence until we reached the ramen bar. We sat down and ordered. I really hoped the guys showed up soon because I didn't have much money on me. My wish was instantly granted as a pissed Sasuke and a seemingly happy Naruto walked up and took seats beside us. I glanced from one face to another and poked Naruto who was sitting next to me. He looked over, a wave of puzzlement washed over his face.

"What?" he whispered.

"What happened when we left?" He grinned like a Cheshire cat before shrugging. "Naruto, what happened?" I made sure my voice was firm.

"Nothing," he replied nonchalantly. I felt like throttling the blond and I almost did, instead I just let out a low hiss of anger.

When our ramen came, I was nearly too consumed with curiosity to eat. Naruto even offered to eat for me, but I just death-glared him into submission. I grabbed my chopsticks and forked the ramen down. Just in time, too. Sasuke and Sakura were already getting up to leave and I didn't want to be left with Naruto who might potentially dump the check on me. I stood and hurried after the boy and girl after saying my thank you and good bye to Naruto. The three of us walked in silence until Sakura broke off towards her home. She quietly said her farewells to us before disappearing, leaving me anxious and jumpy. It wasn't long before Sasuke glanced over to me.

"Where were you really, Kito?" he asked.

"I told you, I was spying on Itachi."

"Do you think I believe that? I'm not stupid." Great. I could feel another father-of-the-year speech coming.

"Well, I don't know what you believe, but I _know _that's where I was."

"Where would that be?"

"Spying-"

"-On Itachi. I know your story. Lie, actually. I know better than Naruto and Sakura. I asked Naruto about it and he believed you. You're a good little actress, Kito, but not good enough to fool me. Where was he?" His voice held a dangerous edge to it. "Did he see you?"

"I-I don't know…"

"C'mon, Kito, think harder." He moved closer to me.

"I g-guess it's possible, but I can't be sure."

_Crap, crap, crap, crap! _echoed through my head as Sasuke interrogated me. If he found out anything, I was pretty sure I was through. Only Sakura knew the truth and she had acted as if nothing had happened. If Sasuke got to her…

"Kito! Watch out!" The cry broke my thoughts and cleared my vision. I hadn't realized that a knife had been whipped to my throat and Sasuke was no longer in front of me. Instead, a ninja I didn't recognize had shoved me against the nearest building with his kunai at my jugular. I turned to see who had called to me, but my face was grabbed and my eyes were forced to look at my attacker. I couldn't even tell what village he was from. All I knew was that my life might be at its end.

**Kito! **suddenly echoed in my ears. Akuze.

_Akuze! What the hell is going on? _I screamed in my head.

**I don't know, but you are in a dangerous position right now.**

_You think?_

**Do you want my help or not?**

_Sorry, just help me out!_

**I can't.**

_Excuse me? _I pulled a tone on him.

**Just don't be stupid with this one.**

That was where he left me. No matter how I called, he ignored me. Did the fact that if I died he died make no difference to him? I stared into the ninja's emotionless eyes. _Help_, I silently thought as I gulped. As if by sheer willpower alone, Naruto tackled my threat. The blond boy scratched him up before he released the strange shinobi. I sank to the ground as Naruto came to my side.

"You ok?" His concern touched me. I just nodded.

"W-where's Sasuke?"

He shrugged at that. "'Prolly went to get something." By this time, my head was in my hands and the first tear was creeping down my cheek. Naruto saw it and wiped it away as he sat next to me with his arm around my shoulders. He could be really sweet when he wanted. We sat there through the whole night. I could feel myself drifting off to sleep every now and then, but it wasn't until early morning that I finally gave in to exhaustion and passed out. Not without feeling a sharp pain in my side.


	16. Chapter 15

**Okay, Merry Christmas everybody! I decided to post the next chapter because it's Christmas and I felt like being nice.  
Kito: **Wasn't it time to post the new chapter anyways?  
**Shut-up! -places hand over Kito's mouth- These main characters can be such a pain sometimes. Hehe... So, anyways, enjoy! And review! Because it's Christmas and I like reviews, at least?**

**Chapter 15**

Although I could swear that I felt myself being carried in strong arms, I found it impossible to awaken. Still, I fidgeted to fight off the unconsciousness. Through all my strained efforts, I still found it impossible. It was like I was trapped in my mind with no way to escape. It felt rather strange. Somehow my subconscious knew what was going on around me. I realized I was in a bed, but it was not my own. Good Lord, I was really staring to hate this day already.

I heard a door open and someone rush in. I felt hands on my shoulders and soon a pain in my side ricocheted throughout my body. I knew I was screaming in my head.

"Kito?" The voice came like a whisper. It was a voice that, though familiar, rang no bells in my head.

I could feel the ties of sleep soon start to fade and my body began moving ever so slightly. I slowly opened my eyes, aware of a dull throbbing in my side. With a groan, I recognized the place.

"Oh God, not the hospital again!" Those were the first words out of my mouth, though I forgot I was even speaking.

"Kito!" Accompanying the bright lights of the room, a new face amongst my friends caught my eye. I steadied my wavering gaze and searched hard through my memories, but could find no name for this person. He caught my staring and chuckled lightly.

"I understand how hard you must be trying to remember who I am, Kito." His voice…it is inexplicably difficult to find some word to describe it. It was sweet and strong in my ears. So hopeful, yet filled to the brim with dark secrets. So full of longing and love, of betrayal and the pain of hatred and loss. I knew I had known him before. Sometime before the traumatic events of my life occurred. When I heard him speak, I was vaguely aware of the comfort I received from the warmth radiating off of his body.

"I-I'm sorry," I said, casting my gaze to my hands which were fiddling with each other on my abdomen. "I don't recognize you. Please, refresh my memory." He chuckled again and neared the side of the bed. He bent over and lifted my head. We were so close, I could feel his sweet breath on my cheek as he planted a soft kiss upon it. I felt the burning of a blush in my cheeks as my eyes closed.

"Riokou Seika," he whispered in my ear before pulling away. I heard him whispering hurriedly to the others in the room. I opened my eyes when I felt everyone was gone and looked to Riokou. His face, unbelievably gorgeous, dwelled in rich, happy memories where the two of us were substantially younger. I watched as my mind turned the bright-red-haired boy into a little six year-old.

"How long has it been, Riokou?" I asked quietly.

"Eight years. I don't blame you for forgetting me. Things are easy to forget if you lose them at five. Besides, I wasn't exactly memorable either." He looked to his feet and guiltily buried his fingers in his thick hair.

"You're fourteen now, then." A nod from the boy. "Why did you leave anyways?"

"My parents found out about my chakra. They wanted me to begin training immediately, so they moved us to Sunagakure. I started training there and became a genin," he replied with a shrug.

"So why are you here now?" I couldn't help my curiosity.

"I caught wind of…" he quieted his voice for his reply. "I'm sorry, Kito." I simply nodded my head. "I had a feeling that you were alive, so I went looking for you. I checked in the village, but since you weren't great at socializing, everybody expected you were with your family. I was traveling down the road when I met a strange old man who talked to me about a girl he had met not too long ago. He described you and I asked where you were headed and here I am now."

"Oh. How'd you know I was here, at the hospital I mean?"

"I carried you here." My face adopted a mask of confusion at this.

"What? I thought Na…" Riokou shook his head.

"You made his arm fall asleep," he said teasingly with a chuckle.

"Whatever. How did you find us?" He shrugged.

"Pure chance really early in the morning. I'm sad to say that I'm probably the reason you're here."

"WHAT!"

"Yeah, when I saw you and Na-what's-his-face against the building, I rushed over. I had picked up a kunai earlier and still had it in my hand. When I was close to you, I tripped and kinda stabbed you…" his voice faded away as he looked down guiltily to his feet.

"So now even my best childhood friend is trying to kill me?" I teased lightly. He looked up to shoot a nasty glare my way, but I had to giggle. "Sense of humor?" The boy just sighed. "Rio, what's wrong? You're not here just because of me, are you."

"Don't worry about me, Kito. You need to rest so you can-what do you think you're _doing?_" I had begun leaving the bed. I shrugged and stumbled backwards as he grabbed at my arm.

"I've had worse, Rio, I'll be fine," I said, revealing the scar from the kunai stabbing I had received. His eyes widened as he saw the healing wound.

"What _happened _to you?" This time he kneeled and studied the half-scar.

"I got in a little mix-up with the wrong person. Rio, I'm okay, you don't have to go all Miko on me!" I drew in a sharp breath as I realized what I had said. Riokou pulled away and sat on the bed. I touched his shoulder and he tugged me onto is lap and into a hug. "I'm sorry" we said in soft unison. I knew how Rio and Miko had kept in touch even after Rio had to leave. They were really close friends, though family gave my relationship an advantage. A knock on the door sent me to floor. I stayed there as Kiba entered. He looked a little jealous as he saw Rio on the bed.

"Rio, this is Kiba Inuzuka. Kiba, this is my friend Riokou Seika," I quickly introduced the pair. Kiba's expression was slightly guarded as he shook the other boy's hand and helped me up.

"Back in the hospital again, are we, Kito?" Kiba teased. I gently shoved him. "Sorry 'bout the cancellation on our date, Kito, Akamaru had a stomach-ache and I knew I'd feel really bad about you both, but Sasuke reassured me you'd understand." I nodded and pretended like I knew what was going on. So it really had been Kiba at the spars and that meant…I was going to have to talk to Sasuke immediately. Or, as soon as I got some alone time with him.

"Hey, guys? Why don't you two stay and get acquainted while I go find someone whom I really need to talk to, okay?" They both nodded, a tad confused, but I thanked them and ran off to find my ill-tempered, black-haired host.


	17. Chapter 16

**Eh, a little humor. -giggles uncontrollably- Okay, I couldn't help myself at the begining. Oi, guys, how am I supposed to know whether or not I'm doing a good job when no one reviews? Honeslty, I'm thinking about just killing everyone if y'all don't review! If you want that, then, okay. Please! I'm on my knees with a silver platter of cookies, begging. -sniff- Okay, I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I did. A little surprise towards the end! **

**Chapter 16**

"Sasuke! You'd better get your arrogant, little butt down here!" I screamed as I entered his house. "Aieeeee! My eyes! They bleeeed!" I screeched and dropped to my knees, hands over my eyes. Sasuke had just stepped out of the bathroom. After taking a shower. With nothing on. I was about ready to claw my eyes out when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It must have been a few minutes because now the black-haired boy was wearing clothes.

"You're such a loser. What do you want now?" he spoke icily.

"I was wondering if Kiba had told you he needed to stay home from our date because Akamaru was sick," I asked as calmly as possible.

"Yeah, so?"

"So?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was on my way to when he came back to me and said he was going to come. I figured it wouldn't concern you at all. He was coming and that was all you needed to know or even cared about."

"Sasuke!"

"What."

"Never mind, just forget what has happened here. I'm serious. The whole, entire incident, 'kay?" I said, hoping he would agree out of embarrassment. But, why in the world would he make something easy for me?

"What? You mean you didn't like it?" I knocked his knee in with my elbow to distract him from the fact that I was actually blushing. I picked myself up off the ground and went to get dressed.

As I stripped out of the hospital gown, I noticed the bandage over the area that Rio must have accidentally stabbed. I imagined Naruto's reaction to what I had been told happened and giggled quietly to myself. Naruto had probably tried to defend me, only to be laughed at by Rio. It struck me, how cruel he could be at times.

I couldn't help feeling sorry for the little blond ninja. He was really sweet, though he _could _be annoying.

"Whatcha laughing at?" I squealed and instinctively covered my chest with my arms, though I _was _fully dressed. I turned to see Rio _and _Kiba at my door. Without knocking, they had opened it.

"Oi! WHAT are you DOING here? And why didn't you knock? RIO! YOU should know best about how I ENJOY my privacy!" I couldn't help myself. It kind of actually felt good, yelling at them.

"Actually, Sasuke let us in," Kiba intervened, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. I _hmph_-ed and crossed my arms.

"And _why _did you do this, you stupid excuse for a-" Sasuke's hand cut me off. He had flashed behind me with an incredible speed. I smacked his hand away and turned to face him.

"Shut-up." Simple, yet effective. I could only gawk with a death-glare. "Let's go do something…_else. Alone_," he said, returning my glare. The other two only shrugged and left with him behind.

"Ai! What does _everyone _see in that…that _thing_!" I grumbled when I was alone again. I heard a sigh escape my lips as I gave into the feeling of defeat. It was obvious now that I would never win with Sasuke unless it developed into a full-blown, battle-to-the-death. And I knew Sasuke would just smirk, call me a loser, and leave. I felt like banging my head into a wall and was about to do it too, but the flash of a shadow caught my eye. "Great. What is it now?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Don't be so annoyed, now." My breath left all at once, refusing to return. Itachi. I turned, and joyously embraced the older, less annoying Uchiha.

**Kito. No.**

_What? Why not?_

**Don't question me. Just kick him out and get help.**

_Shut-up. I have intuition._

**It's not very good, but, whatever.**

"Where did you go? Please, tell me of these past days," I inquired.

"Not very far. It was very difficult for me to leave you, Kito," Itachi said before quickly pecking my cheek. I held him closer and tighter, until he had to physically force me to release him so he could breathe. "I never realized how strong a woman could be."

I smiled and sighed contentedly, snuggling into his cloak. His arms wrapped around my waist as he whispered sweetly into my ear.

**Kito! Stop! This can't go on!**

_Shut the-_

**No. Get away! Your life could be in danger at this moment.**

_What?_

**He wants me!**

_You told me he wanted me, Akuze. If you don't like it, you shouldn't have told me._

**I told you he wanted your **_**heart **_**not you!**

_Just leave me alone, demon. _I could almost hear a hurt whine in the back of my head. I almost thought about apologizing. I knew how he hated being called demon.

"Is there something wrong?" Itachi's voice pulled me to the outside world.

"Oh, um, no. E-everything's fine, don't worry about it."

**Kito!**

"Kito!" Both voices fought for my acknowledgement at the same moment. I felt myself being spun around to face my door. I heard Itachi hiss in my ear as I saw who the human voice belonged to. My neck had begun to feel slightly claustrophobic and I saw Itachi's hand holding a kunai uncomfortably close.

"Come closer and she dies."

"I-itachi?" Itachi kissed my ear, earning a small moan and a tilt of my head. It calmed me so I could assess the situation. Rio was at the door with Kiba and Sasuke on either side.

"Itachi!" Sasuke hissed. I really could see the resemblance now. The same, black hair. The same, dangerous black eyes. There was no room for mistaking them as anything other than brothers. Kiba and Rio exchanged confused glances as Sasuke slid into his fighting stance.

**Let's make a little deal. Give me five or more reviews and I'll update, even if it happens to be a shorter amount of time than expected. Sound good? Then review! I just can't believe it's come to this, promising to update at a certain number of reviews...**


	18. Chapter 17

**Whatever, I officially don't care about the reviews anymore. They would be nice, but whatever. A friend of mine explained that some people just aren't "reviewers". I find it hard that out of as many people who read my story, there isn't at least one person who fits under the classification of "reviewer". I give up!! Anyways, enjoy. And if you wouldn't mind, please review on your way out (constructive criticism gladly accepted).**

**Chapter 17**

Profanities echoed through my head as I slowly came to my senses. Everything clicked. Everything. Everything Miko had said, Akuze had said. Every last word. Miko had always warned me to protect my heart from strangers. To protect it even from supposed friends. He once even told me to protect it from him. And Akuze. What he had said. He literally meant Itachi wanted my heart. And its contents.

_Akuze, please, tell me, where are you sealed?_

Silence. I knew he wanted to keep this from me.

_Akuze! Answer me! Where in my body are you sealed?_

I heard an angry howl and cringed at its volume. I concentrated, slowing my breaths and entering my mind. A dangerous state that Miko had taught me to always avoid. His reason was that our demons might escape, leaving us sealed in their bodies. Progress was seemingly slow. Somewhere, in the distance, I could hear the frantic calls of Kiba and Rio.

"Kito! Wake up! What's happening to her?" Kiba's words were like inaudible whispers. I knew that not even Riokou knew what was going on. I was afraid they would think I was dead or dying and take me back to the hospital. I assumed they were all pointing fingers at one another, blaming them for something I had done according to my own free will.

Tremors shook my shell as I traveled even further through it. At last I, my soul, came to a bright area with a wall with bars and a seal. This was it. Akuze was here. I recognized it from the forest, though, there it had not taken me long to find him.

"Akuze," I whispered. A white shape came to the bars of the cell. His shape was of a very large wolf, though he was still small. He was about twice the size of a normal wolf. I saw the black mark of fire above his left eye. He looked up at me through glowing, blood red eyes. "W-where are we?" He shut his eyes and sighed.

"We are in your…oh, forgive me Miono and Geikan," he said. His voice was softer as he spoke my parents' names. They must have told him to never tell me, for reasons unbeknownst to me. "Kito, I live in your heart. Literally." I froze. My fears were realized in the reality of it all.

"Why did they…what am I going to do? What the hell is going on?" I asked, sitting on the floor. I felt like everything I had learned, everything I had lived for had been a lie. A cover-up for a truth I would hate and turn from.

"Kito, don't try to make sense of this. Just protect yourself from the Akatsuki."

"Itachi loves me, he'll help me."

"He doesn't love you or anybody!" Akuze's voice had grown into a snarl. "He wants you to trust him so he can draw me from you! You will die if he gets his hands on you."

"What do you mean?"

"I may be no bijuu, but I am still important to the Akatsuki for a reason I do not know. Stay safe, Kito. Now go before you are trapped." I turned and ran. I didn't care what that stupid monster had said. He was wrong and was lying. He just wanted to protect himself. The selfish little demon! I shook my head as I ran, closing my eyes. When I reopened them, I was looking around my room is the arms of Kiba.

"What happened?" I groaned. My head was throbbing and the side of my neck stung. I moved my hand to the source of the pain and shrieked. Blood. He had actually cut me! I couldn't quite understand, so I pushed the fact away.

"You okay?" the boy asked. I nodded and looked around the room.

"Where are they?" I questioned, for Sasuke, Rio, and Itachi were gone.

"They went after Itachi when he dropped you." I sighed and stared at the floor.

"Why did you come back?"

"We were leaving when Sakura came up and asked who was in your room with you. If it weren't for her…" Kiba trailed off, turning his face away from me. I sniffled. They had driven Itachi away. I hadn't even the time to say good-bye. He pulled me tighter to his body as he thought about the consequences. I felt Akamaru wriggle beneath his coat and soon the head of the little dog popped out the top and began frantically licking my face. I giggled and tried to move my arms to stop him, but they were pinned to my body by Kiba.

"Stop it, Akamaru!" I laughed as his tongue continued to tickle my cheek. The boy looked at us and rested his chin on my shoulder. I leaned my cheek against his head. I hadn't realized how tired I was or how comfortable I was. My eyes began to close and I was near sleep when Sasuke came back through the window. Slightly embarrassed, Kiba released me. Sasuke's eyes betrayed a slight sadness.

"What happened?" Kiba asked, instantly sensing something wasn't right.

"I-I lost them… It was only a few minutes, but… It wasn't fair… _I _was-am the person who is supposed to fight him to the death… Not Riokou. The traitor went and used his Mangekyo Sharingan! K-Kito… He's d-dead! If he had waited for me…" My knees gave out as Sasuke delivered his report. I was soon a crying heap on the floor with Kiba trying to console me. Sasuke had known Rio for what, like a few hours? Why was he stuttering? Sasuke shouldn't really be having trouble. As I thought and wept, Sasuke pulled Kiba away and took him outside.

I heard them arguing quietly, obviously it was Kiba who wasn't agreeing with Sasuke. I heard him repeatedly say things like "How could you do this to her?" and "I can't believe you two!". I rose, sniffing and wiping my face. They poked their heads in the room and Kiba came over to me, giving Sasuke a promising death-glare as he moved.

"Hush, Kito. You need to remember the good times from when her was, er, still alive. There is no need to dwell in the unpleasantries of death," Kiba said. I was slightly shocked. Those were some deep words for a guy… There was definitely a soft side to the cocky dog-lover. I smiled sweetly, I mean, who wouldn't?

"Thank you, Kiba," I sighed, hugging him in a death-grip. Eventually, with much effort, he pried my arms from around him.

"Kito, I propose we talk over a dinner. You know, get things settled."

"L-like a date?"

"If you want it to be like a date, then, yes, like a date."

"That sounds really gre-" Kiba had cradled my chin in his hands, tilting my face upwards. He brought his face near mine and swiftly kissed my lips. It was so quick and, yet, it was the most amazing kiss of my life.

"Sorry, I can be a bit…impulsive," Kiba said when he noticed me blushing.

"That's okay," I replied happily. Suddenly, guilt claimed my conscience. Where had those tears that I had cried for Rio gone? Where were they now? And the feelings that had accompanied them? I felt like a horrible witch, hooking up in the midst of my best friend's death, but, somehow, it still seemed right…

**--------------------------------------------------------------**

**I am interested in knowing what you guys think Sasuke and Kiba were talking about... Just leave your ideas in the form of a review.  
Kito: **This was a big step in my relationships  
**That's nice, why don't you go over there so I can write the next chapter, eh?**


	19. Chapter 18

**Yay! Next chapter! Sorry it so freakin' long. My muse decided it wanted to be stolen by the evil demon called "Writer's Block". Yes, a sad state for every author. Fortunately, though, I was able to come up with something in time and now I'm set for at least the next chapter. Well, on with the story!**

**Chapter 18**

_Finally, a chance to wear this for the real Kiba_, I thought sadly as I dressed in the red kimono I had gotten for the bet-date. I sighed, brushing my blonde hair before putting it up in a bun held by black chopsticks I had found in a drawer. There was a silver kanji for "butterfly", "peace", and "beauty" on each of the chopsticks. I figured they were good luck charms. I knew I'd need some serious luck to get through tonight without breaking down or feeling guilty.

"Kiba's here!" Sasuke yelled up the stairs. I sighed and left my room quietly. I quickly descended the stairs to stand in the brightly lit family room. I saw Kiba and Sasuke standing there, speaking in hushed voices. Kiba beamed up at me when he saw me coming. Akamaru was at his feet.

"I brought Akamaru. I hope that's okay with you…" Kiba trailed, turning away in thought. I guessed he was having second thoughts about the dog. I giggled and bent down, calling the puppy over to me. He happily obliged and began licking my fingers.

"It's fine, Kiba. He's almost as cute as his master," I replied, quickly blushing as I realized I had thought aloud. I glanced sheepishly to Kiba's face to find a light pink touching his cheeks.

"T-thanks, I-" Kiba stared down at me and Akamaru. I was truly glad that this was Kiba and not someone using a transformation jutsu again. In fact, I was so happy I scooped the little dog up and kissed his nose. As I stood, I cradled him in my arms and rested my cheek on top of his head.

"Are you going or not?" Only Sasuke would find a reason to interrupt a moment like that. Of course, why would I expect anything different from him? I sighed and replaced Akamaru on the floor. I moved quickly to Kiba's side and we left. The second we were out the door, Sasuke slammed it, almost catching Akamaru's tail.

"Hey Kiba? Can I ask you something about…earlier?"

"Yeah, ask away, Kito," he replied nonchalantly.

"What were you and Sasuke talking about?" I really wasn't interested, but I wanted something to talk about.

"Oh, that was about… Hey, do you like ramen?" Great, he was avoiding it, which only sparked some interest. As I was about to push for an answer, a pang of hunger erupted in my stomach. I clenched my arm around my abdomen and sighed.

"Ramen sounds amazing," I said. He looked at me sympathetically when he spied my arm. I giggled and shrugged. We found the ramen bar and sat down to order.

"So, you wanna elaborate on your argument with Sasuke?" I asked with more interest this time.

"He wanted you to get out of the house for a night and I thought it'd be a better idea if you were allowed to…grieve," Kiba replied, confidence echoed in his voice.

"Oh, okay." I was officially confused. When I had asked the first time, he was having trouble. I brushed it off with a sigh and looked up. Talk about fast food. The ramen was already in front of us. Definitely efficient, this village. We ate without speaking and soon, Naruto was by my side. I hadn't even seen him arrive.

"Hey Kito and…Kiba? I thought you'd have Riokou with ya," Naruto said. I felt my eyes go wide and I swore my heart was literally in two pieces. Kiba growled at Naruto who just stared back through confused, blue eyes.

"It's okay, Kiba," I mumbled quietly.

"Naruto, you idiot!"

"W-what'd I say?" I felt sorry for the blonde.

Kiba grunted when I placed my hand on his shoulder and shook my head. "It's okay," I repeated myself. He relaxed and shook his head angrily. I stood to leave and Kiba placed money on the counter. "Bye, Naruto, I'll see you tomorrow for training." I waved sadly and tried to smile. The boy was still confused, but shrugged when his ramen was placed in front of him.

Once we were walking the shadowed streets again, Kiba took my hand and ran. I had no choice but to follow, Akamaru at my heels. He pulled me to a hill with one tree at the top. He lay down and pulled me next to him. The stars were so beautiful. I smiled contentedly and rested my head on his chest. He moved his arm around my waist protectively and kissed the top of my head.

We lay together for a while. I was so enveloped in the moment that I forgot to keep track of the time. It could have been hours or only minutes. All I knew was that I was happy which seemed like an inevitable sin given today. I snuggled closer as tears freely rolled from my eyes. Kiba moved his other arm to my back, rubbing it up and down. It was extremely relaxing and soon I was asleep, warmed by Akamaru who had taken a liking to curling between my stomach and Kiba's side.

I sighed dreamily and wondered where the boy and dog had gone. I rolled over, still half asleep, and groaned. Akamaru was growling and bristling when I finally spotted them.

"Kiba? What's going on?" I asked, noticing that Kiba was bristling as well.

"Akamaru smelled someone with a huge chakra signature. We're gonna go check it out. You stay here, okay?" he replied. I sighed and nodded. I wasn't sure I liked the idea of them going in the forest alone. After all, Itachi was probably still hanging around. Still, I was too tired to protest or even go with them, so I let them leave without a sound. I lay back down and studied the sky. I traced constellations with my eyes as I waited for their return. Minutes later, the boy and dog stepped out of the forest. They looked fine, but I felt a sudden chill as they approached me.

"What was it?"

"Oh, it was just Lee…training." He shrugged and pulled me off the ground. An irrational fear claimed my conscience when he touched my arm. "It's getting late, we should get going. C'mon." He began pulling me towards the town. A howl filled the sky and I froze. I looked to the little dog at my heels. His head was cocked and his mouth was closed.

"Akamaru," I whispered under my breath. I whistled almost silently. The dog just stared at me. On the ground lay a kunai. Kiba must have dropped it when he left. I jumped for it. Once I had it in my hand, I approached Kiba.

"What are you doing, Kito?" he asked, not the least bit worried.

"Who the hell are you and what have you done with Kiba and Akamaru?" I hissed venomously, pushing the kunai to the imposter's throat. I pressed it closer when he chuckled. He grabbed my wrists gently and placed my arms around his neck. He knocked the kunai to the ground and kissed my forehead.

"Kito, dear, don't you recognize me?"


	20. Chapter 19

**Well, you guys should all feel very loved. I've decided to go ahead and post the next chapter. There is some seriously messed up humor in here and I apologize if you don't like that kind of stuff. What can I say, that's just the way I am. So, yipee-ki-ay. I was hyper. _Very _hyper. Yes, well, enjoy!**

**Chapter 19**

"You're damn right I know who you are, now," I hissed, kneeing at his groin.

"Come now, Kito, I know you don't want to do that," he purred in my ear, catching my knee. I jerked it away and threw myself on the ground, releasing myself from his grip. I stood and brushed myself off and darted behind him to grab the kunai. Akamaru was still near my feet. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and slipped my arm under his front legs with the kunai at his throat. Normally, I would never threaten an animal, but this dog was no animal.

"Tell me, where are they?" I whispered harshly, moving the knife closer to the imposter's neck. "Or would you let your little friend here die?" The man cursed and transformed back into himself, his Sharingan activated. He reached for the puppy who snarled when I swung him out of Itachi's reach. I felt small fangs ripping into the flesh of my arm. I dropped the animal without removing my eyes from Itachi's.

"Kisame, look at what you did to the poor girl," Itachi said, his voice almost mocking. I watched as, in a puff of smoke, the little dog transformed into a huge, blue man. A huge, blue, _fish _man. I growled quietly, sliding into my fighting stance. Kisame's arm moved to the hilt of his sword in ready. Itachi simply chuckled.

"You'd stop giggling if you knew what I have in store for you," I spat angrily. "This," I said as I released the kunai towards his chest. "Is for Riokou." Itachi moved aside, the blade nicking his shoulder. I began gathering my chakra in my hand. "And this," I spoke as the black, whirling ball began to take shape. "Is for my family and Kiba and everyone you've ever hurt! Including your clan and especially your little brother!" I didn't even realize how much I actually cared for Sasuke until I said those last words.

I charged at them, running on pure hatred and adrenaline. I felt almost invincible. I was so close to hitting Itachi with my shadow ball when Kisame pulled the wide sword from his back and swung it at me. I leapt out of the way just in time. I concentrated my chakra to my feet and shot myself through the air, creating a new shadow ball in my other palm. I maneuvered my body through the air, barely escaped Kisame's swings. I threw the new shadow ball at him and landed, continuing towards Itachi with the other prepared for the strike.

He smirked and grabbed my wrist with the shadow ball inches from his face, still swirling black. He lifted me up by my arm so we were at eye level. I released the shadow ball and wriggled out of his grasp. I dropped to the ground, twisting my ankle. He bent down to stare into my eyes. The black marks in his eyes spun together and he leaned in close. I dropped my gaze to his mouth. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look into his eyes. I began to black-out, the corners of my vision moving in to consume my entire field of vision.

"Kito! No!" I heard Kiba yell. My line of sight cleared and I saw that Itachi was looking towards Kiba as well. Kiba doubled over, grabbing his temples. I lunged for the boy, reaching his side in only a few steps. I grabbed him into a hug when he began crying out in pain.

"What are you doing to him?" I screeched. "Stop it! Leave him alone, damn it!"

Itachi sniggered and released Kiba. The boy was sweating and fear filled his eyes. I pulled him deeper into my hug, afraid to let him go. He gripped at my back with unfeeling hands. I heard him whisper my name, his voice was pure joy. I pulled him from me to meet his eyes. Tears were staining his cheeks.

"I'll never let you go again, I promise. I'll always protect you, Kito," he whispered. He worked his arms around me and pulled me back into a hug.

"What the hell did you do to him?" I questioned, a new fire burning inside me. I looked up to see Itachi standing over us, emotionless, with a kunai in his hand. It was very clear what he intended to do. He suddenly leapt backwards, avoiding a kunai that flashed by in front of his face. I felt a presence behind us and saw Kisame standing there, rage evident in his eyes.

The shoulder of his cloak was torn and his shoulder was open and bleeding profusely. The shadow ball had hit him. A small, devilish smirk touched my lips as I examined the damage I had done. I righted myself on my feet, with some resistance from my injured ankle, and took my stance again. I was so focused on Kisame, I didn't realize Itachi was behind me until he grabbed me. I struggled to escape his arms to no avail. I felt Itachi nod his head toward Kisame and saw the blue man nod back and disappear.

Not long afterwards, a beaten Naruto was thrown to my feet. He looked up at me and I saw knowledge in his eyes. The boy had something up his sleeve and he was pretty happy about it, too. I was confused, but I focused on getting away. Kiba was pretty much useless after his little break-down, Naruto had gotten his butt kicked, and I had a hurt ankle. We were as good as dead from what I could tell. I sighed and rested against Itachi, finding resistance to be futile.

"That's a good girl," he whispered into my ear. I let out a low hiss of anger and jerked to a standing position again. He picked me up with ease and motioned to Kisame. We were about to take off when a shuriken was thrown into the ground right in front of Itachi's feet. I felt him go rigid, trembling with anger. I glanced off to the side and saw nothing. Turning my head back, I leapt backwards into Itachi. Kakashi was standing there. If only looks could kill. Even with only one eye, a lazy one at that, his gaze was fierce and there was the tint of long-awaited revenge. I instantly met the hard ground.

"Why are you here?" Kakashi asked quite calmly, if you ask me. Itachi smirked and pointed to me. Kakashi looked down, slightly confused. I smiled guiltily up at him. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done, distracting the jounin, but I couldn't help myself. Soon he was off fighting Itachi and Kisame was standing over me, looking as furious as ever.

"So, um, how's…life?" I asked. Yet another stupid thing. The blue man glared at me so harshly I felt almost offended. "Geez! Can't a person make small talk anymore?" I glanced back up at him to see an annoyed look settle on his face. I returned his gaze with my best 'What're _you _looking at?' face which sent him fuming. Satisfied, I crossed my arms and sat there with a smug look on my face. I sat like that for a few minutes before crawling over to Naruto who had somehow managed to get over to Kiba.

"What's going on?" Naruto demanded the second I reached them. I pointed to Kakashi who was fighting Itachi and then to Kisame who had suddenly appeared over us. "And what's with fish-man, here?" I giggled when Kisame looked about ready to kill the three of us. We heard a growl and glanced to the edge of the forest. Akamaru stood there, bristling. He charged Kisame who just stood there. I fell over, I was laughing so hard, when Akamaru bit the man's ankle. He shook the angry dog off of him and I could tell he was refraining from killing me on the spot. Akamaru lunged again and began snapping at the large man. I took the opportunity to grab Naruto and Kiba. I helped them off the ground and we ran, Kiba beside me the whole way home.


	21. Chapter 20

**Gah! Sorry guys, I know it's taken me forever. If you want the reasons, you can check out my profile, if not, okay. I know the beginning is a tad old-school, but whatever. Anyways, I'm hoping to get the next chapter finished before two weeks have passed. Yay, well, enjoy!  
Disclaimer: **Strangely, I feel like doing this, oh well! No, I don't own Naruto or the crew. I wish, but MK wouldn't let me. Besides, if I did, Sasuke would have been killed by Itachi and Kito would be a real character and Itachi would be even sexier and -rambles on about how schmexi Gaara and Kiba are- and then all the Sasuke lovers out there would hate me and try to take over the world and then I would have to call upon the awesome help of the nun-guins and then-  
**Kito: **-slaps hand over TBC's mouth- SHUT. UP. Please, enjoy.  
**TBC: **-sulks in corner-

**Chapter 20**

When we entered the village, we found Kurenai and Asuma who were passing by when we burst through the village gates. They looked at us strangely, three genin all out of breath, one beaten, one scared, and one pissed. I could understand why they seemed a bit worried as they approached us and asked what happened.

"Itachi…Kisame…Kakashi-sensei…the hill with…one tree…" I panted between breaths. It then occurred to me that Akamaru hadn't followed suit when we had left. "Akamaru's still back there!" I screeched and turned back, ready to go retrieve the dog when I felt Kurenai's hand holding my shoulder. I glanced back to see her shaking her head.

"You need to stay here with Kiba. He looks really frightened. Naruto looks pretty hurt, too. Take care of them and we'll take care of Akamaru and Kakashi," she said, gently pushing me towards Kiba who wrapped his arms around me so tightly that I could barely breathe.

"Okay," I agreed, trying to break free from Kiba's arms. It was truly amazing how strong he could be when he wanted to. I watched as the two jounin took off before turning my attention back to the boys. "Kiba, honey, you need to let go of me now, okay?" The boy shook his head. "Stop acting childish. If you let go of me, we can go back to Sasuke's house and work through this together." He reluctantly removed his arms.

I grabbed his hand and motioned to Naruto to follow us. We were soon at Sasuke's house. I pushed the door open and entered the brightly lit house. Sasuke was sitting at the table across from another person. I didn't bother asking about him, and instead took Kiba and Naruto up to my room. Once we were there, I sat Kiba on the bed and told him to wait so I could help Naruto. I went to the bathroom and grabbed a fresh towel. I found that Naruto had followed me.

"Clean up and then I'll take care of your injuries," I told him before going back to my room to work with Kiba. I sat down next to him on the bed and took his hands in mine. "Now, Kiba, sweetie, I need you to tell me what happened and why you're so scared. Can you do that?" I asked in my most motherly voice.

"He told me not to tell anyone." I sighed and tried again.

"Don't worry, he'll never find out. If, by some chance, he does, I'll make sure you don't get hurt, okay? I'm here for you, but I can't help if I don't know what's going on." It hit me at that moment how much I was like my mother. He seemed touched by my words and hugged me again. When I first met him, he never struck me as the hugging type, but here I was, receiving hug after hug from him. I pushed him back so I could make eye contact with him.

"He…killed you right in front of me and I could feel everything he did to you, every stab and every cut. Everything, even…heartbreak. It was when he was coming to kill me that he let me go. Because of you," Kiba explained his voice shaky.

"Kiba, he was trying to break you. He's already winning and you can't let that happen. Don't let him scare you so much. He wouldn't hurt me more than he had to, you need to know that. You can't let him get to you. I appreciate what you did for me, coming back, but you need to stop being brave all the time. You should have run back and gotten reinforcements. I didn't want you to go through that," I replied, squeezing his shoulders.

"I couldn't leave you alone. Never ask me to run away for you. Ask me to die for you, but never ask me to run away because I won't do it," Kiba said, his voice firm.

I sighed and was about to speak when Naruto came in, the towel wrapped around his waist. I gasped when I saw a strange, but deep gash streaking from his left shoulder to his right hip. Kiba looked up as well and turned away almost immediately.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have taken you straight to the hospital instead of making you clean up!" I ranted as I rushed Naruto to get dressed so I could drag him to the hospital against his will.

"I'm fine, really. It's nothing a bandage can't fix," Naruto tried as I pushed him out the door. Kiba had decided to go along and I figured it was because of what had happened. I was pretty glad he had come along against my wishes because it took the two of us to drag the protesting blond to the hospital. Once we got there, we had to help the nurse get Naruto into his assigned bed.

"Why couldn't you just walk here like normal people?" I asked when he had been treated. I had buried my head in my hands with shame.

"You never walked here when you came," he retorted, obviously angered. I looked up and stared in disbelief.

"Naruto, you idiot! I was half dead the first time and exhausted to the point of unconsciousness the second!" I cried, my arms flailing in the air.

"So, you said _normal _people walk here and you-"

"Then I guess I'm not normal!" My hands were so close to wrapping themselves around the boy's neck and just squeezing until he passed out. I had to slap my forehead to get the craving out of my head. I heard a chuckle and looked in Kiba's direction. He was holding his hand over his mouth. I donned a very fake smile that clearly said 'don't make me kill you' on my face. He dropped his hand to reveal he was biting his bottom lip in attempt to not smile. I slapped my forehead again and stormed out of the room. I couldn't take it anymore. If they wanted to talk to me, they would have to find me. I decided to return to the house so I could rest up and explain what happened to Sasuke and Sakura.

All through the walk home, I was configuring ways to possibly get out of training the next day and decided it was best to just show-up and give it all I had. I quickly opened the door once I reached my destination and slipped inside the dark house. I tiptoed up to my room and hopped in bed, not even bothering to change into night clothes. Not even two minutes into sleep, Sasuke burst through the door.

"Coming?" he asked in his monotonous and annoyingly indifferent voice. I sat up, blood-shot eyes wide with anger.

"Don't even talk to me about training," I said, my voice threateningly calm. I stood before raising my voice to a shrill screech. "I just went through a night straight from hell when it was supposed to be a date set up by you _and _Kiba right after the day from hell, during which my best friend, whom I've known since childhood, was murdered! Or did you forget?" I flopped back onto my bed, curling into a ball so I could hide my tears from Sasuke. He came over to my bed and placed a hand on my back.

"Kakashi-sensei makes sure everyone knows training is mandatory. Or did _you _forget?" he said. I groaned angrily and jerked in every movement I made to get ready, showing Sasuke how unreasonable he was. He just stood there, arms folded across his chest, with a smug smirk. I was becoming more and more agitated as he watched me brush my hair and gather it up in my normal, half-pony-tail. I stalked out of the room and out of the house, making sure the unreasonable idiot was behind me.


	22. Chapter 21

**Wow, sorry the whole "update before two weeks is over" thing didn't exactly work... Well, here's the new chapter! I must say, if it weren't for Akemi-chan, this chapter wouldn't be the way it is. I'm super excited to answer the one, big question from her review. Here you go, Akemi-chan! Oh! Guys, you ALL need to check out Akemi-chan's stories! They are super amazing! AkemiXHanako is her pen-name. The first story I want you to check out is "This! This Is Bad!" which is about all our favorite Naruto characters coming to our world. It has every genre I can think of and an amazing plot! The second one is "In The Eyes Of Autumn" which is based on when our favorite characters are all growed-up! (Just a pinch of humor there) It is really well-written and thought out and features a "new" Akatsuki! Well, those are the main stories you should check out. I think some of you might enjoy "Burning Memories" by Akio Ashido, so you should check him out as well as Akemi-chan. Enjoy the latest chapter of NimH! **

**Chapter 21**

Sasuke soon overtook me and led me to a bridge where I stared into the water, worrying about how Naruto and Kiba were doing. I looked up to a tap on my shoulder, seeing Sakura standing next to me. She pointed to Kakashi who had popped up out of nowhere. I sighed and mumbled under my breath as he motioned for us to follow him into the surrounding trees. Once we reached the training grounds, Kakashi turned to face us, his uncovered eye tracing the three of us.

"The two of you can thank Kito and Naruto for having me take it easy on you today," he began. Sasuke glanced in my direction, probably with a nasty look plastered to his pretty face. I sensed he thought I was weak and saw it was true when I stared, unbelieving, into his eyes. I clenched my teeth and lunged for him, stopping right in front of his face, my nose almost touching his.

"Don't you _ever _underestimate me, _got it_?" I hissed, raising my hand to smack him when he simply smirked. Before I knew what was happening, I was soaring through the air, landing when I made contact with a tree branch. I slipped to the ground, unable to grasp the wood. I pulled myself up and stared at the black-haired boy. His hand was balled into a fist and he was in his fighting position with his head hanging low.

My eyes narrowed as I slid into my own stance, activating my senses. I retrieved a kunai from my pouch and taunted him by lightly switching feet, slowly closing in on him as I circled. His head tilted upwards, watching me, studying me as I danced about him. He charged, pulling a kunai from his own pouch. I slipped out of the way, throwing myself onto his back to unbalance him and flipping backwards to distance myself from where he stumbled. I jumped through the air and unleashed a stream of weapons as I pulled them out. He easily dodged them and came at me again, performing a series of hand-seals I couldn't catch as he moved.

A blue, whistling ball of chakra formed in his hand when he finished with the seals. It reminded me of my own jutsu. I quickly performed the hand-seals and soon chakra was swirling around my index and middle fingers. I grabbed my wrist with my other hand and held my fingers in place, stopping Sasuke's attack. He was breaking through my jutsu and I screeched in pain as I felt my fingers become dislocated, the pain, once again, magnified. I performed a single-handed seal and the chakra began spreading down my forearm. I slipped my fingers away, forcing Sasuke's attack to my arm to relieve my fingers.

I thought through my options, imagining how each would turn out. I figured my best options were of me either kicking his legs out from under him or falling backwards and throwing him off of me. I decided on kicking at his legs and, as I did, he jumped up, almost forcing me to fall backwards. With all my strength, I propelled myself off the ground so I would have my legs to help push him off. I finally got him off once I hit the ground. I quickly rolled from my former position and hopped to my feet.

"I don't need your help, Sasuke," I said. He just stared at me. I couldn't tell if he thought I was being random or what. "I don't need your help," I repeated as I deactivated my senses and worked on relocating my fingers. A very painful job even without the intense magnification of super-senses.

"What are talking about?" he finally asked.

"What do you think I'm talking about?"

"You seemed to have needed me when Itachi attacked you!" he raised his voice. I saw Sakura and Kakashi behind Sasuke, Sakura looking a little guilty.

"He wasn't attacking me! Not even when you showed up!" Lies.

"Than _what _was he doing to you?" I looked to my feet. He wasn't going to enjoy the truth very much.

"That was the last day we…the last day I thought…" I trailed. I could feel his angry gaze boring holes into my body.

"The last day for what?"

"Love," I replied, my voice barely above a whisper.

"_What_?" he sneered almost mockingly. I looked back at him, staring angrily into his hard, black eyes.

"_That _was when I still thought we _loved_ each other! Turns out, he was only playing with my head so he could get to A-you know who," I said, nearly spitting the words. I watched as the information sunk in. His face went from slightly surprised to angry and finally to completely pissed off. I couldn't tell if he was angry with me or his brother, though why he would be mad with Itachi about this was beyond me. I also noticed how a spark of disappointment mixed with hatred flashed across Kakashi's eye before he retained his neutral, droopy eye-expression.

"You should have known, Kito. After everything I told you, everything he did to you? You _still _thought he loved you? He killed your clan! He killed Miko! He killed your best friend!" Sasuke argued, raising his voice as he spoke.

"I know!" I screamed, shutting him up. "I know."

"I-"

"No, Sasuke, I _really _don't want to hear it, especially from you. I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, but I can't take this right now," I said. Kakashi nodded in understanding and quietly thanked him before taking off into the trees. I heard Sasuke arguing with Kakashi as I disappeared. I almost broke down in the trees but tried to stay strong.

I finally reached the village and mindlessly wandered to the hospital. I didn't even realize where I was going until I was staring through the glass doors. I rested my forehead against the door and thought on whether to go in or go home. With a sigh, I entered the building and headed towards Naruto's room. I figured he would want to know what happened after I left last night. I knocked on his door, waiting for a cheery reply, but all I got was grumbling. I curiously opened the door to find Naruto tied to his bed.

"What happened to you?" I giggled, trying to suppress laughter the best I could.

"Nothing, now help me out!" he replied, struggling beneath the ropes.

"Can't do that."

"Why not?" he whined, still trying to break through his bindings.

"They tied you up for a reason."

"At least get me some ramen and feed it to me! I'm starving!"

"So, what'd you do? Did you try to sneak out the window, or are you more of a door person?" I asked, ignoring his request for ramen.

"Window," he mumbled under his breath. "I coulda made it, too, if Kiba hadn't given me away." It suddenly became unbearably difficult to hold back my laughter. Naruto stared angrily as I erupted into fits of laughter. The look on his face was priceless. The whole situation in general was priceless. It was so carefree that it helped ease my pains.


	23. Chapter 22

**Well, guys, all I can say right now is I'm sorry it took so long to finish this chapter and that it helps if you listen to "Listen to Your Heart" by DHT during this chapter. I'm all into mood-music... Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 22**

"It's not funny, Kito. It's all your fault!"

"And how do you reason that?" I asked, the giggles finally fading. I had been laughing for at least five minutes straight, angering Naruto more and more.

"Because, if you hadn't-I don't know, but it's _still _all your fault!" The blond's desperation only fed my already-humorous view on the situation.

"That's nice. Just keep saying that to yourself," I replied, fighting laughter. He _hmph_ed and tried to cross his arms across his chest only to fail miserably. "Here," I said, finally giving in. I loosened the straps around his arms so he could pull them out and actually cross them.

"Thanks," he mumbled, looking away. He glanced back at me when I didn't reply, his arms slowly unfolding. "Hey, Kito, what's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing," I murmured.

"You sure? You're pretty quiet…"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it, Naruto."

"Hey, Kiba!" he burst out, looking past me. I turned around and, sure enough, there was Kiba, leaning against the doorway with a small, crooked smile. "Whadya want _now?_ Are you here to bust me _again_?"

I flicked Naruto's nose, earning an angry "Hey! What was that for?". Kiba sauntered over and gathered me up into his arms, nuzzling his nose into the crook of my neck. His arms wrapped themselves around my waist, holding me close to his body.

"It's nice to see you, too," I giggled. "I guess someone's feeling better."

"Yep. Lady Tsunade told me being clingy would annoy you and then she told me you had a temper…"

"Oh…yeeeah," I replied, grinning sheepishly. Kiba withdrew and held me out by my shoulders, looking me over. I guess he was deciding whether he could annoy me or not.

"So, what'd ya do to earn that reputation?" he asked, smirking. I groaned, not really wanting to explain what wasn't real. Okay. Maybe it was, but I just didn't feel like explaining my life to anyone right then. I mean, I had just gotten in a fight with my host and wasn't in the most wonderful mood, even after Naruto's predicament just a few minutes earlier.

Instead of a verbal reply, I leaned in to place a soft kiss on his lips. That would keep him occupied for a while. He looked slightly stunned, but soon regained his cool, smiling like he was kissed so much that he had gotten over the wonderful feeling of it all. I simply raised an eyebrow in amusement. He was definitely a piece of work.

"So, Kiba, Naruto told me you ruined his chance for escape?" Kiba nodded, though he failed to respond verbally.

"You came here for a reason, right?" Naruto asked, catching me off-guard. For all the time I had known him, he never was very serious.

"Y-yeah… How'd you know?" I asked.

"Because you'd never come to visit me otherwise."

"That's not true!" I exclaimed, offended that he thought that way about me.

"I'm not stupid," he mumbled. I heard Kiba stifle a chuckle behind me. The blond glared past me, quietly daring him to speak up next time. I moved to grab his arm, bringing his attention back to me. A new smile brightened his face. "So, why'd ya come, Kito? Wasn't there training today?"

"Yes…there was training, or rather fighting-"

"You and Sakura?" he interrupted, surprise flaring in his bright, blue eyes.

"No, me and Sasuke! Y'know, if you did interrupt, you would have known!" I retorted, my voice harsher than I would have liked. Kiba grabbed my shoulders and I turned to face him. Anger had invaded his expression.

"I swear, if he hurt you-"

"Sasuke?"

My hands flew to my head and I finally broke down, the tears I had held back for so long flowed freely. Along with the salty tears came memories. Memories that I didn't even know I possessed. Visions of childhood adventures with Miko and Riokou flashed before my eyes. Clumsy children wandered through flowers, concealed by the tall grass that hid the colorful plants. I felt Kiba weaving his arms around my waist, pulling me close. I pushed against his chest, but his grip was solid, leaving me to simply wait.

"I can't do this anymore," I said, my voice raspy from crying.

Naruto touched my arm and I glanced to him. His eyes were filled with worry as he took me into his own arms after pestering Kiba to let him do so. He held me close and I felt his breath on my ear.

"Kito, there's something you need to know," he whispered. I nodded my head against his shoulder, begging him to tell me. "Sasuke l-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence because I pushed him away and promptly exited the room. I could feel his and Kiba's surprised gazes watching me as I fled. I told them I couldn't take it anymore. I was through with love and all the pain it brought. I had lost my family and my best friend. I had been tricked and torn and tattered.

I sprinted to Sasuke's house, forgetting to close the door behind me. I barely made it to my room before collapsing across my bed, another fit of tears wracking my body. I clutched the blanket against my cheek, using it as a pillow of grief. Too much had happened and it was all finally catching up with me. I heard a knock on the door and heard it open. Sasuke made his way over to me and pulled me to my feet.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, wiping my tears. I just stared at him blankly, too numb to care anymore. Without warning, he held my face and kissed me. I almost screamed. How could he? I pushed him away, glaring as I quickly grabbed my jacket and pushed past him, through the open door.

My heart ached as I ran, putting my jacket on in the process. Where the hell had he been? Was he completely delusional? Yet another flow of tears left my eyes and I slowed down until I was walking. How could he? I held my hands against my heart, trying to ease the pain. The pain of knowing. Knowing I _loved_ him. And knowing he loved me back. It was too much. I had to run away.

I stopped. I had made it to the gates. Night had managed to darken the sky. _And me_, I thought grimly. I stared through the gates, longing to just whither away, to become invisible and be forgotten. Knowing it wouldn't happen, I turned to look at Konoha. It was peaceful and content. Not a good place for me. I had somehow managed to bring a slip of paper with me. Without a pen, I retrieved a kunai from my pouch and promptly opened my finger.

I dipped the tip into the blood and began writing, dipping the kunai's tip when the blood dried on it. In the end, I was satisfied with my work and used the kunai to attach the note to the wall next to the gate. One last tear slipped from the corner of my eye and I clamped them shut, silently bearing the pain.

I slowly walked through the gates. Running away, unable to put up with this life anymore. I counted them. I counted all the notches in my heart.

**-  
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**Well, this is it, guys. --sniff-- I almost cried as I wrote this. This has been a surprisingly emotional story for me to write... Anyways, yes, NimH is finished. I'm sorry if you didn't want it to end, but I _do_ have some good news for you! I'm going to be writing a sequel eventually. --is already thinking of the first chapter of the sequel-- Probably once this has sunken in, so just keep checking up every once in a while. I'm also almost finished with the third songfic, so then I can possible start writing that fic soon... So, let me know if you liked it, please. Tell me if you hated it. Just tell me something. --puppy-dog eyes--**

**The Barn Cat**


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